Partners in Crime
by weirdbard
Summary: It was suppose to be just another theft for Drakken so how did Shego find herself and Ron Stoppable as playthings to two insane women? crossover with batman. Shego/Ron and Ivy/Harley.
1. Chapter 1

Partners in Crime

By Weirdbard

Chapter 1

Your author here: Another new Kim Possible story and a crossover with my other two favorite fictional ladies, Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn. This story will be a standalone story and has nothing to do with my other Kim Possible stories so no three-way this time with Shego, Ron and Kim. This will be a Ron/Shego pairing as well as an Ivy/Quinn so if either of these are not your thing, then don't read this.

For those that are fans of my Shego/Kim/Ron stories I will go back to them soon. It is just so many of my stories are inspired by dreams I have and this one was a particularly vivid one and just begged me to 'flesh' it out and write it.

Oh! Almost forgot. Disclaimers: I do not own the characters of Kim Possible or Batman. I am merely using them for the purposes of writing a story. No profit is being made and no disrespect is intended.

As Harley and Ivy ran down the narrow dark alley, Harley risked a glance over her shoulder and could see the tale tell dark shadow of a bat above them.

"Never look back." Harley chanted as some kind of mantra as she clutched the latest stolen device closer to her ample chest and redoubled her efforts at running.

It had supposed to have been a simple snatch and run job from Wayne Enterprises botanical labs, a rare genetically altered plant. Harley didn't even like plants that much, a fact she was careful to keep to herself considering her new partner in crime and life, Poison Ivy.

Poison Ivy after hearing of this new plant had been hell bent on stealing it but only so she could destroy it. Tampering with plant DNA was her specialty and she wasn't going to let anyone else, especially men do it. The plant in question was supposed to be a voracious killer plant that when introduced to an area would kill off all other plants and replace themselves with it, at which point it was suppose to mutate into a harmless food plant. The ultimate in clear and cultivate strategy but in Ivy's opinion this was a ridiculously highly dangerous and risky concept, one that not even she would have tried. The probabilities that the plant would not mutate or mutate into something even more dangerous were just too high.

But after arriving at the labs where the plant was being developed Ivy and Harley found out that she wasn't the only one thinking that and found the plant prototype had been ordered destroyed by Bruce Wayne so it had been moved to the disposal unit and the scientist who tried to develop it was already on his way to Arkahm for even attempting it. Ivy and Harley had arrived just in time to see the deceptively innocent looking plant in a garden pot slide right into a huge furnace and with a puff of smoke was gone. Harley in annoyance that they had come all that way and had nothing to show for it had grabbed something else another scientist had developed against Wayne's orders and that was slighted for destruction and ran with it. And that brought them back to where they were now, running to escape Batman as he tried to recover something that Bruce Wayne had deemed too dangerous for his pet scientists to have developed.

Reaching a single still working streetlight in the alley Harley glanced down at the device she was clutching and reread the small plaque on its side. "Pan Dimensional Vortex Inducer." And once again she wondered what exactly the cylinder shaped device was supposed to do?

Dr. Drakken watched as Shego with a feline grace that bordered on inhuman slipped past the multiple moving laser fields in the top secret government lab that was set up to protect the device they had come to steal. She then avoiding the use of her powers which would have set off the alarms cracked the safe the device was in and quickly obtained her prize.

When would those that were in power realize that he was not to be stopped when he wanted something? He was all powerful! He was a force to be reckoned with! He was… Drakken was distracted from his thoughts as Shego with a final grunt and sinuous stretch landed in front of him clutching the device to her chest.

"Okay. Once again I have stolen this damn thing. I can't believe you wanted it again. Didn't you learn anything last time from Mr. Sit Down?" Shego complained as she handed over the Pan Dimensional Vortex Inducer to her employer as she mentally added another 20 percent to what she usually received for her services. Re stealing the same thing over and over again was beneath her and especially when the item in question always ended up causing more problems than it could ever be worth.

Drakken stroked the device in a way that was just too creepy for Shego's tastes before tossing it back to her for her to lug out. "Come Shego. With the Pan Dimensional Vortex…um, thingy my plans this time will not be stopped by…."

"Kim Possible." Shego breathed out catching sight of the teenager standing at the entrance to the secret government lab.

"Yes, her." Drakken stated not noticing that the teen in question was standing a few feet from him. Finally looking where Shego was pointing he spotted the teen. "How can you always arrive while we are in the midst of committing a crime? I mean seriously? Even getting a report of a break in it should take you time to get here? Do you seriously not have a life? Are you just waiting around to foil my plans? I mean seriously?" Drakken ranted as he spied Kim and Ron.

"Whoa dude. You've been hanging around your cousin Motor Ed again haven't you?" Ron asked.

Shego rolled her eyes. "You have no idea. They both dragged me to a demolition derby last night and then got so drunk I had to haul both their asses home while Drakken sang he was a little bit country and Ed sang he was a little bit rock and roll at the top of their lungs."

Ron looked at her sympathetically. "That must have been sheer hell. You have my sympathies."

Shego, even though they were about to fight smiled slightly. "Thanks." She then glared at Drakken. "At least someone respects the stuff I put up with that is not in my contract."

Drakken frowned at Ron. "And you are?"

Ron's face flushed red in anger. "Aww come on dude! We've been at this for what now? two years or so? Kim and I show up. Kim kicks Shego's ass and I stop you from stealing, activating a killer weapon or just in general foil your plans! You can't tell me you don't know my name after all that!"

Shego frowned at the mention of Kimmie kicking her ass but sighed. "His name is Ron Stoppable." She told Drakken.

"See? At least Shego shows enough professionalism to remember my name!" Ron stated folding his arms across his chest.

"Ron, stop complimenting the enemy." Kim told him as she lowered to a defensive crouch to fight Shego.

Drakken for his part just looked down his nose at the boy. "I can't be expected to remember each and every single person who gets in the way of my greatness." Drakken decided to ignore the snort from his henchwoman Shego at the mention of his greatness. "Shego… Sic em!" He ordered.

Shego who didn't need to be told to fight Kim Possible rose out of her crouch and turned to glare at him. "You can say attack Shego. Or stop them Shego or I would even accept a simple Shego fight, but I am not some kind of dog to be ordered to sic em!"

Kim snorted. "You always struck me as a slobbering rabid Doberman."

Shego her eyes blazing turned to look back at her nemesis.

"Oh now that was a little uncalled for Kim." Shego was surprised to hear Ron come to her defense. "I mean yes she is our enemy but name calling is a little beneath you and Shego is neither slobbering nor in any stretch of the imagination a dog."

"Ron now is not the time to take a stand for rules of etiquette." Kim growled at Ron.

Recently their on again, off again relationship was off again and Kim didn't appreciate Ron seemingly pointing out her faults. Which as far as Kim was concerned she didn't have any anyway.

"I'm just saying there is no reason to be rude when you don't have to be." Ron stated calmly.

"You only have to be polite when you are dealing with a person. Shego is not a person!"

Shego seeing red leapt across the distance separating her and Kim Possible with the Pan Dimensional Vortex Inducer raised high to bring it down on Kim Possible's head. Even though they had been arguing, Ron reacted immediately and pulled the distracted Kim out of the way of the blow. The canister went though the space Kim's head had so recently occupied and slammed down hard on a railing.

A loud beeping started and rapidly sped up.

"Uh oh." Shego muttered as everyone froze to look at the now dinged device. "That can't be…."

Finally cornered in a dead end alley, which Harley found herself wondering briefly why the city planners of Gotham had found a need to make so many of them, Harley and Ivy turned to face Batman as he stalked into the circle of light that was being provided by the only working streetlight next to them.

"Give it up you two. You are both going back to Arkham." Batman stated as he pulled out a pair of batcuffs. Oh he knew it wasn't going to be as easy as them surrendering to him. Ivy and Harley never did things the easy way.

"You'll never take us alive copper!' Harley shouted as she raised the device she had stolen above her head to swing it at Batman if he were to come near. Ivy resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Not only was batman by no stretch of the imagination a mere cop but also the fact that Ivy knew Harley would surrender as soon as it looked like there was a chance that either of them was going to get hurt too badly. Ivy felt a brief warmth flood over her as she thought of the fact how Harley was so protective of her. Since Harley had FINALLY wised up that the Joker was no good for her and switched to Ivy, Harley was like a possessed woman when anyone threatened Ivy. Ivy frowned a bit as Batman actually seemed to consider Harley's threat seriously and stepped back a few paces with his hands raised.

"You don't know what you are holding Quinn. That thing is dangerous."

"Then back off and let me and my Pammy go free!" Harley growled at him, not bothering to lower the device at all.

Ivy hated the fact that Harley used pet names for her. Well in public anyway. Privately she loved how Harley would use those names, especially in the throes of passion.

Yes, Ivy and Harley were lovers. Almost immediately after leaving the Joker, a lonely and battered Harley had found herself in Ivy's floral bed, Ivy eager to prove to Harley that love didn't necessarily mean broken bones, lacerated skin and brief hospital stays had attempted to seduce the bubbly young woman and Harley eager to have someone who was willing to hold her and tell her once in a while that she was worth something besides being the punch line to a joke that no one found funny, had been quite eager to be seduced.

"I can't do that." Batman said raising a hand in an attempt to calm Harley Quinn. "As I said that thing is dangerous. Bruce Wayne gave orders when one of the scientists in his employ suggested the design that it not be made but the scientist eager to prove his theories correct had made one in secret. When Wayne found out he gave orders that it be destroyed immediately and it would have been if you hadn't stolen it."

"Finders keepers Bats." Harley taunted him as she raised the canister higher. A slight clank was heard as the cylinder hit the edge of the light pole that Harley and Ivy were standing under. It wasn't even that hard a hit, just a brief contact between the two metal surfaces but the device in Harley's hands immediately began to beep.

Harley lowered the cylinder to look at it. "Um Red?" She asked Ivy standing next to her. "I don't think this can be…."

There was an explosion of light as Batman leapt the distance between him and Ivy and Harley but by the time he reached the space they had been in, they were gone.

"…Good." Shego finished as a bright flash of light blinded everyone in the room.

Kim thought to herself that something had sounded funny about Shego's voice. Almost like a delayed echo as if there was another voice added to hers. As everyone's eyes readjusted they found Shego holding one end of the cylinder and on the other end of it there was a woman standing there that hadn't 

been there before. She was wearing a skin tight black and red outfit and had a hood like thing that covered her head complete with tassels. Standing next to the mystery woman was another surprise guest. This woman had bright flaming red hair and an equally skin tight costume made of green. On her wrist was what to Kim's eyes looked like a miniature crossbow.

Since Shego had swung the device at Kim and Ron had pulled her to the side, Team Possible was closest to the two strange new women.

Ron's eyes briefly examined the two new women until he realized that their costumes were so skin tight he could make out the woman in red and black was not wearing a bra and he could see her nipples straining against the tight material. Blushing bright red he quickly lifted his eyes up.

Harley blinked a few times as she found herself holding on to one end of her canister and at the other end was a woman she had never seen before. Of Batman there were no signs at all and even the dirty alley they had been was gone to be replaced by what looked like your typical high security government lab. In the brief moments of shock on both sides, Harley studied the woman across from her. She had light green skin similar in nature to Poison Ivy's but not nearly as lovely to Harley's eyes and a fantastic flowing mane of black hair but again not as nice as Ivy's red hair, and as Harley's eyes traveled down to Shego's chest region she noted that she had quite a nice rack. Maybe just as nice as Ivy's this time.

"Ahem." Shego said pulling Harley's attention away from her assets. "The eyes are up here."

Harley obliged by staring into Shego's eyes. "Yeah. Those are nice too." Harley replied after a moment and fluttered her eyelashes at the woman.

"Harley!" Ivy growled at her.

Harley shook herself a little. "She won't let go of my Pan Dimensional….um thing Ivy!" She said in way of an excuse for eyeing the dark beauty across from her.

"It's not your Pan Dimensional…" Shego growled in annoyance. "Look I stole this thing for Dr. Drakken. I don't even know where the Hell you two came from. Just let go of it and I'll let you walk away!"

"You'll LET us walk away?" Ivy did some growling of her own.

Ron noticed that in the midst of all this Drakken, perhaps wisely had slipped away. If Ron had been gifted with foresight he might have done the same thing but alas he wasn't. "Wait are you saying you were stealing the Pan Dimensional Vortex Inducer somewhere as well?" He asked the women.

Four set of female eyes turned to look at him. One in annoyance, which was Kim. Two in appraisals, those were the newcomers and Shego? Shego just looked at him with no particular emotion as she clung to her hard earned stolen item.

"Ooh he's cute." Harley squealed almost causing Shego to let go of the device to clutch her ears.

Ron promptly blushed but continued with his train of thought. "We know from experience that the Pan Dimensional thing opens gateways to other dimensions. If you were to do something that activated yours at the same time Shego accidentally activated hers…" Ron paused as his own mind tried to figure out where he was going with this. "I get it." He finally stated. "The two devices merged into one! Yours drew you here and it merged with the one Shego had!"

Shego blinked at Ron. "When did he get so smart?" She asked out loud.

"He has his brief moments but they are far too brief and very far apart." Kim stated in an offhanded manner.

"Hey." Ron said hurt. Sure they had recently broken up but that was no reason to dismiss him like that in front of Shego and strangers. The recent break up wasn't even his fault! He had found Kim in a passionate embrace with Josh Mankey and when he confronted Kim about it she admitted that she was still attracted to the pretty boy so Ron had gracefully bowed out, again. This was about the third time he had caught Kim with another guy and each time he told her he understood and let her go only to take her back when she once again changed her mind or the guy dumped her for another. If it wasn't for the real good they did in stopping evil doers during their missions together he would have moved away and tried to forget Kim a long time ago but now Kim was even dissing him during missions.

Harley still clutching her end of the Pan Dimensional Vortex Inducer looked thoughtful. "So you are saying me and Ivy are in another dimension entirely? Torn from everywhere we knew and everyone we have known?" A slow smile started to appear on her face. "Away from Mr. J? Batman? And that stinking hole of a city Gotham?" Harley looked over her shoulder at Ivy. "Red, I think we're going to like it here."

"You heard Ron. Your Pan Dimensional … thingy merged with this one here. So it is mine!" Shego shouted as she tugged on the cylinder

Harley turned her attention back to Shego as she pulled on the item. "Well I guess the only fair thing to do would be to let you have it then…" She said as she suddenly reversed direction and shoved on her end of the cylinder causing it to fly back into Shego's face knocking her out.

"Good thing me and Ivy aren't the fair kind of people isn't it?" She asked the unconscious villainess.

Ivy pulled a round seed out of a pocket on her belt and threw it to the clean white lab floor in front of Kim and Ron. Kim glanced down at it in surprise. "What do you think that is going to…" She managed to get out before a vine exploded out of the seed and without water or soil began to rapidly grown entangling her. Ron a split second earlier as if somehow sensing the seed was anything but a harmless little seed had hurled himself upward and grabbed a hold of a pipe in the ceiling and swung himself out of the way of the vine. Landing next to Shego's prone body he blocked a blow from the Pan Dimensional Vortex Inducer as Harley tried to bring it down on Shego's unprotected body.

"Harley." Ivy's voice growled out. "Please stop bashing things with a device that can send us places! I would like to get to know this dimension before you accidentally send us to another one!"

Harley winced. "Oops?" She said but then suddenly looked teary eyed. "I just thought of something Red. What about my babies? They are back in Gotham all alone and I don't have anything here to mother!"

Ron held Shego's head in his lap as he tried to judge how badly the green skinned woman had been clocked by Harley, he glanced up when he heard Harley. "Babies? Neither one of you look old enough to have kids."

"Aww isn't that sweet Ivy? He thinks we look young." Harley cooed while Ivy rolled her eyes.

"Her 'babies' are a pair of laughing hyenas." Ivy informed him. "And I wasn't crazy about them in the first place. You got them when you were with the Joker and they were a constant reminder of him to me. That and they stunk up the place and were messy!" Ivy finished looking to her lover Harley.

"But Red! I need something to care for! It's the nurturing instinct in me! It is like you and your plants. I need something…" Harley stopped and shot a glance over at Ron and Shego as Ron tried to surreptitiously pull the unconscious Shego away from the two criminal women.

Harley made her way to Ivy's side and whispered something into her ear as Ron was nearing the door to another lab. The mutant plant clutching a cursing Kim was between Ron and the exit, not to mention the two obviously crazy villainesses so the best Ron could hope for was to get him and Shego under cover until Shego regained consciousness and could defend herself and Ron could go to Kim's aid.

Ivy shot Harley a look as if to say, you are going to owe me big time for this and reaching into another pouch on her belt she pulled a lipstick from it and quickly applied it to her lips. Moving towards Ron she paused as he leapt to his feet to stand over the unconscious Shego as if to protect her. "I thought you were with her?" Ivy said gesturing over her shoulder to where Kim struggled in the plant.

"I am." Ron stated. "But I won't let you hurt Shego either. What kind of person would I be to let someone hurt someone who is unconscious and can't defend herself?"

"Ooh such a big strong brave man you are." Ivy cooed in obvious mockery. Suddenly she closed the distance between them and grabbing Ron by the back of his head she pulled him close and kissed him before Ron could react.

Ron struggled briefly but then suddenly stopped as his arms fell to his sides and he just stood there.

"Ron what the hell do you think you are doing?!" Kim shouted at him. She had nearly gotten her hands to her lipstick laser to cut away the plant holding her when she saw Ron stop resisting the strange green skinned red haired woman and was now seemingly leaning in to the kiss.

"He can't hear you." Harley leaning on the wall next to the plant smirked at Kim. "Ivy's kiss has that effect on guys. They do everything she tells them to do."

Ivy pulled away from a dazed Ron standing perfectly still. "Sorry kid but Harley has decided that you are to be her new plaything to replace her precious babies, so let's go."

Ron nodded his head. "Yes Mistress." He replied as he started to step over Shego to go to his new mistresses.

"Hey wait Red!" Harley said with an evil grin. "Have him take the woman too."

Ivy glanced over at Harley. "Why would we want her as well?"

"Aww come on Red, her skin kind of reminds me of you and our new toy… Um what was his name again?"

"His name is Ron Stoppable!" Kim growled.

"Our Ronnie needs a companion. I wouldn't want him to get lonely when you and I… Well you know."

Ivy shook her head at Harley. "You know my kiss has no effect on a female. Just how do you think you will keep this one in line?" She said nudging the knocked out woman with her toe.

"I have an idea. Come on it will be fun and a great joke."

Ivy shook her head but this time resignedly. "Bring her." She said to Ron. Ron without a comment bent over and hoisted Shego over one shoulder and started to follow Ivy to the door to the lab.

"Ronald Dean Stoppable! You listen to me right this second. You drop Shego and help me get out of here! You hear me?!" Kim shouted as they neared. Ron however showed no signs of hearing her at all.

Harley however was holding her hands to her ears. "Damn she is loud. Can't you shut her up Red?" She asked Ivy.

Ivy glanced over to Ron. "You heard Harley, she is also your mistress and you will obey her as if it were me. Shut that screeching bitch up."

Ron with no expression on his face suddenly lashed out a fist knocking Kim out instantly.

"Gee, that's much better." Harley cooed at Ron. "Thanks my little Ronnikins."

"I live to serve Mistress." Ron muttered in a daze as they left the building.


	2. Chapter 2

Partners in Crime

By Weirdbard

Chapter 2

Shego winced as she started to come to. She couldn't believe she let that bimbo in a red and black suit pull such an obvious stunt as shoving on the canister they were both holding and catching her so flat footed as to be knocked out.

Holding off on opening her eyes fully, Shego tried to make sense of what her other senses were telling her. She could hear the drip drip of water and the floor underneath her questing hands she felt gritty dirt. She realized someone hadn't bothered to tie her hands together and planned to make that someone very sorry for such a mistake. Hearing someone walking towards her she stilled her search and tried to act as if she was still unconscious. Finally not being able to take the suspense any more she barely opened her eyes and peeked through her eyelashes.

The green skinned red head was a few feet away from her and was leaning over the sitting form of Ron Stoppable. They boy's eyes were wide open but looked vacant.

"Listen up Ron." Ivy told him. "There are some simple but never to be broken rules. One: You are to obey me or Harley no matter what we tell you to do. Two: Under no circumstances are you to ever fight against us or try to harm us in any way. Three: You are free to act as you normally would as long as doing so does not break any of the first two rules or would result in us being unhappy. Do you understand?"

Shego could see Ron arms quivering slightly as he obviously tried to fight whatever it was the red headed bitch had done to him.

Ivy sighed and reaching into a pocket she pulled out her lipstick and applied it to her lips. Bending over she tilted Ron's head up to hers and kissed him once again.

"Do you understand?" She asked again.

"Yes Mistress." Ron answered her immediately but in a wooden manner as if he were only a ventriloquist's dummy.

"Um Red?" Harley's voice called out from somewhere behind Shego. "I thought too much use of that lipstick killed men? I mean I want to hang on to our new pets for a while…"

"Relax Harley. I redid the formula. The more I use it the more permanent the effects will be but it no longer destroys a man's brain cells. Your new 'puppy' will be fine as long as you remember to feed and look after it."

Shego couldn't help it. Hearing that they had some kind of mind control chemical caused her body to jerk in reflex. The memories of the mind control chip that Drakken had used on her once were still too fresh.

"Oh yay!" Harley squealed. "Our other toy has woken up."

Shego with a growl shot to her feet, only to find a heavy logging chain she hadn't noticed before was attached to a collar around her neck and prevented her from lunging at the woman in front of her.

"Ron protect." Ivy smirked as she simply stepped back.

Ron leapt to his feet and stepping next to Shego he wrapped his arms around her pinning her arms at least temporarily to her side. Shego noticed that even though the man's face was empty of expression, his eyes were alive with sadness and regret and they were begging for her to understand. Not wanting to hurt the guy, since he was as much a victim at the moment as she was, Shego didn't fire up her plasma powers and even stopped struggling for a second.

"Good Blackie." Harley's hated voice called out from behind her again. "Let me explain something to you. The collar around your neck is packed with high explosives."

Shego stilled even more upon hearing that.

"And we've rigged it to go off several different ways. If you try to remove the collar? BOOM. If you try to leave this little love nest we have set up? BOOM! If Ivy or me press a hidden button? BOOM!"

"I get the idea." Shego gritted out between clenched teeth.

"Oh one last one." Harley added. "If you get too far from Ronnie here, both of your collars go boom boom."

"Why that last one?" Shego practically growled.

"Because back in my dimension I had two matched Hyenas as pets and I want my new pets to be the bestest of friends as well." Harley replied as she finally came around into Shego's view. She had a wicked smirk on her face. "As a matter of fact, Ronnie be a dear and show Shego how glad you are that she is with us and give her a big kiss."

Shego could see Ron's eyes grow large in shock but that was the only reaction he was being allowed at the moment and against his will he started to lean in to kiss Shego. Shego started to struggle in his grip once again. Exploding collars be damned she wasn't going to be turned into some sick bitches live sex show to amuse them. Shego did once again though refuse to use her plasma powers on Ron.

Ron continued to gently but firmly hold her arms to her side in a parody of an intimate hug. Shego found herself amazed on just how strong Ron was as she was not instantly able to break free from his grasp.

"Gee Harley, it doesn't look like Shego is interested in being friends with your Ronnie. Maybe we should just pop his head off now and go back and get that red head and make her your other plaything?" Ivy's voice maliciously stated.

Shego stilled instantly. No matter what some might think from witnessing her fights with Kim, Shego was not into girls and certainly not that loud mouth opinionated do-gooder. She stared into Ron's eyes and could see the anguish of him being forced on her when she obviously didn't want it was eating him up inside. "It's okay Ron." Shego finally whispered to him.

Once Shego stopped resisting Ron quickly lowered his head down and brought his lips into contact with hers. Other than being given the order to give her a 'big' kiss nothing else had been stated so Ron was free within the orders to act the way he wanted so rather than slam his mouth down roughly on hers, Ron gently, tentatively brushed his lips against Shego's.

Shego in slight surprise thinking the kiss was going to be a rough demanding one opened her lips slightly and felt Ron's tongue gently flicking against hers. Still in a sense of shock she opened her mouth slightly more allowing Ron to deepen the kiss. After a few moments of surprisingly passionate kissing, Ron pulled back from Shego letting her catch her breath. And Shego was more than a little shocked to realize she needed the breather. Who knew that Kim's sidekick was such a good kisser?

"See Ivy? Blackie here likes it. She is just shy." Harley turned from Ivy to address Ron. "Ronnie be a dear and help Blackie to relax."

Ron's brow furrowed as he tried to make sense of the new orders. He was compelled to obey them but they were so vague he couldn't quite figure out what she meant. Finally he removed his arms from around Shego's side and sliding around behind her he placed his hands on her shoulders and started to massage her tense neck muscles, being careful to not go too near the explosive dog collar circling her neck.

Ivy gave a half shrug. "Not quite what I think Harley meant but I suppose that is a good start as any on relaxing her."

Shego wondered if things could get any more surreal. Here she was chained like a dog for the amusement of two very obviously dangerous and sick individuals while the sidekick of her worst enemy was giving her a backrub. Shego blinked as she realized that not only was he giving her a backrub but that was he was really quite good at it too. Even against her will her muscles were loosening as Ron expertly worked his large hands across her shoulders. Without even realizing it Shego and Ron slowly sank down to their knees and Shego ended up sitting on the floor between Ron's legs and leaning back against him as he worked her shoulders.

Shego had been to exclusive and very expensive world spas and never had she had someone give her such a through and expert massage. Ron it turned out had magic fingers when it came to backrubs. She almost involuntarily purred as Ron's hands found some of her most sensitive spots on her back and his fingertips danced across them.

"Ooh. I want him to give me a massage next." Harley breathed as she watched.

"No." Ivy stated flatly as she folded her arms across her chest. "He is not to touch you, ever! Understood Harley?!"

"Aww Red don't be that way. You know you are the only person for me." Harley cooed at her and stepping closer she raised herself up on her tiptoes and kissed Ivy.

Shego's eyes grew wider as she watched the two out of the corner of her eyes.

Harley didn't stop with just kissing Ivy. She reached up and tugging on the material of Ivy's costume she pulled the front of it down to reveal Ivy's breasts and letting her hands wander she started to tweak and gently pull on ivy's nipples all the while standing on tiptoes and swallowing Ivy's moans.

"Oh god." Shego thought to herself. "Can this day get any stranger or weirder?" She could feel Ron's hands quivering slightly as he continued to massage her back and realized the poor boy was as freaked and uncomfortable with what was going on as she was.

"Why don't you two get a room?" Shego finally said out loud as Harley start to cup and roughly massage Ivy's breasts right in front of her and Ron as if they didn't exist.

Harley stopped her ministrations to look back at Shego and Shego knew instantly from the glint in the strange woman's eyes that she had just made a mistake reminding them that they were there.

"I think someone is just jealous that Ivy is getting some much deserved attention and she isn't. Don't you think so Ronnie?"

Ron's hands stilled on Shego's back and she could most definitely feel his hands shaking as he rested them on her shoulder. Shego paled and sent an almost pleading look at Harley not to do what she thought the crazy woman was going to do next.

"Rooonnnieee" Harley dragged her nickname for him out. "I think….. You should pay as much attention to Blackie's front as you are doing to her back. Don't you?"

"Yes… Mistress." Ron quavering high pitched voice called out and Shego could feel his hands start to move from her back to her front.

"Don't … You …. Dare." Shego growled out.

Harley held out a small tube shaped object in her hand. On top of it could be seen a bright red button. "Click, click…BOOM." Harley sang out.

Shego resisted the urge to fire up her plasma powers and burn that smile from her face. So far she hadn't used her powers in front of them so they didn't know about them. But even her cosmic powers was no use to her if her head was blown off so Shego resisted the urge. Slowly, almost too slowly Ron's hands crossed from her back to her front and lightly started to massage her firm flat belly just underneath her breasts.

Shego's eyes widened once again but this time with a new reason. Harley, Ivy and Ron were close to finding out one of Shego's most closely guarded secrets. One no one had ever lived to tell another soul about. She was ticklish.

Ron fearing that Shego was going to go nuclear at any moment was resisting as much as he could which ended up with his fingers ghosting gently across Shego's costume with barely enough pressure for the woman to even feel it. He could feel Shego start to tremble in his grasp and just knew that any moment she was going to explode in pure rage and kill him for daring to touch her in such an intimate manner.

So it was in complete shock when a moment later Shego started… Giggling.

A shock that was reflected on Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn's face as well. Almost unbidden a thought occurred to Ron, one he had had many times before. That Shego when she wasn't shouting death threats, ranting or cursing… Had a very pleasing voice and her giggling was extremely feminine sounding.

He realized with horror that the warmth of holding her so close and the giggling she was so desperately trying to hold back was having the most unfortunate effect on him, I.E. It was exciting his body. In desperation Ron tried to think non arousing thoughts. Barkin shouting at him for being late, Kim with her arms folded glaring at him, the image of Drakken in nothing but T-shirt and boxers. That last image was one from Ron's memory as Kim and him had once made an early morning raid on one of Drakken's lair and had actually caught the blue skinned mad scientist in such a state. That image did the trick and Ron felt certain parts of his body start to wilt.

Leaning forward, Harley neared as close to Shego as she dared and stared into the woman's glaring eyes as Shego bit her lip to try to keep from giggling any more as Ron's fingers continued to lightly stroke her stomach.

"She's more relaxed now but I think you should help her 'relax' even more Ronnie." Harley smiled evilly as she addressed Ron over Shego's shoulder.

Ron's fingers stilled instantly and his strained voice called out. "What do you mean Mistress?" He asked shakily.

"Take her top off." Harley uttered with a smirk.

The effect was instant but not quite what Harely had been expecting. Shego blushed bright red and a moment later Ron started groaning in pain. Harley leapt back and looked over at Ivy, who had readjusted her costume and was no longer bared for the world to see. "What did I do?" She asked as she looked at Ron who seemed to be in extreme distress as his hands still around Shego's waist began to twitch and his body started to convulse.

"He's fighting the effects of my mind control kiss." Ivy almost in a bored manner explained to Harley. "He eventually shred his nervous system if he keeps resisting."

"Damn it!" Shego shouted at them. "He has a girlfriend. That redhead you had him punch back at the lab. Ron is too nice a guy to do anything he would consider cheating on her like you are trying to force him to do. You are killing him!"

Harley stepped closer to look at Ron's sweating face. "Is that it Ronnie? You don't want to cheat on your girlfriend?"

Through clenched teeth Ron was forced to answer truthfully. "Kim's not my girlfriend any more. She broke up with me."

This information surprised Shego and confused Harley Quinn. "Huh?" Quinn asked intelligently.

"Kim broke up with me a week ago to go out with another pretty boy. She does that a lot but this time I've decided I won't take her back if she tries to come back to me." Ron gritted out.

"Finally getting a backbone?" Shego asked over her shoulder to the man behind her.

"Even Rufus began to get disgusted with me. That's why he is not with me and is back at home." Ron admitted hanging his head down.

"Rufus?" Harley mouthed to Ivy. Ivy gave a shrug as if to say, 'don't know, don't care'. Harley turned her attention back to the still struggling Ron. "So if it is not being disloyal to your ex girlfriend, why are you resisting the orders so much? Is it because you don't find Blackie here good looking or desirable and that is why you don't want to touch her?"

Shego shot a glare at Harley that if looks could kill, Ivy would have had to start Harley's funeral very soon. Harley for her part just ignored Shego as if she didn't exist at the moment.

"I think…" Ron tried to clamp his teeth together to keep from answering as Ivy's drug forced him to reply to Harley's question truthfully. "That Shego is… That Shego looks like…"

Shego found herself frowning as she along with Harley waited to find out what Ron really thought of her looks.

"Like a goddesss." Ron finally groaned out. "Shego is easily the most beautiful woman I've ever seen." Ron finally admitted in a rush.

Shego couldn't resist a slight smirk at this, but the smirk was wiped away when she felt Ron convulse behind her even more strongly.

Harley was genuinely confused. "Well if you are not 'attached' at the moment and you think Blackie here is so gorgeous, why are you fighting it so much?"

"Shego doesn't want me to touch her. You are trying to force me to molest and basically rape a unwilling woman!" Ron shouted in anguish.

Ivy nodded her head. "There you go Harley. There is your problem right there. The boy has morals. You should have known that when we found him and the loud mouth trying to prevent Shego here from robbing that lab when we arrived. He's another boyscout like Batman back in Gotham and won't do anything that compromises his moral ethic codes." Ivy shrugged. "Kind of a pity really."

To Ron she said. "Forget Harley's orders to undress Shego."

Ron's immediately relaxed and his hands stopped trembling.

"Separate from Shego and stand up." Ivy continued to order. Shego felt a knot develop in her stomach as she noticed that Harley was watching Ivy with nervousness now and Ivy's face lacked any concern or mercy at all. Ron stumbled to his feet leaving Shego to suddenly feel cold as his warmth was taken from her back.

Ivy gestured to another part of the warehouse like place they were in. "Go over to that plastic wrap on the floor over there and wrap yourself in it." She ordered Ron pointing at some packing supplies that had been left behind in the warehouse.

"Um, Ivy what are you going to do with him?" Harley asked.

"I'm going to have him wrap himself in that plastic so when I blow his head off with the collar he is wearing he won't make a mess. You know how unpleasant bits of brain matter can be when they are all over the walls."

Shego her eyes wide in shock shouted. "What?"

Ivy looked at her in boredom. "It is obvious that Harley here wants to see you two together. Frankly I can't see what any self respecting woman would want a man to touch them in the first place but hey, if that is what Harley wants I'm not going to interfere with her fun time but… It is obvious that Ron will not allow himself to force himself on a unwilling woman so Harley here is never going to get what she wants so…" Ivy shrugged. "Ron here is useless to her plans. So he has to go boom boom." Ivy held out her hand to Harley. "Give me his detonator Harley."

Harley reluctantly reached into the cleavage of her costume and pulled another of the cylinder tubes with a button on top of it and handed it over to Ivy. "Gee Red, he was cute too." Were the only words of protest she gave.

"You two are insane!" Shego shouted as she got up off the floor and started to move towards them, or at least as far as the chain attached to her collar would let her. Shego felt a chill run down her spine when the only reaction to that proclamation she gave was both women looked at her and then at each other and shrugged as if to say, well doh.

As Ron started to lift the plastic wrapping off the floor Shego yelled out in desperation. "I'm not unwilling!"

Ron froze and Ivy and Harley turned to look at her with raised eyebrows.

"What?" Ivy asked after a moment.

"I'm not unwilling. Ron you wouldn't be molesting or raping a woman." Shego said but refused to look at any of them but stared at the ground at her feet. She glanced up when she heard the plastic wrap 

continued to rustle, only to see Ron was lifting it in preparation to wrapping himself in it. "She's lying to try and save me." Ron said woodenly.

"Damn it Ron! Have you ever known me to care one wit about someone else's suffering?" Shego looked away in annoyance. "I thought you were cute the first time you and Princess interfered with one of Drakken's stupid plans, okay?"

Ron paused in his task. "You did?" He asked.

"Yeah I did. I remember thinking in annoyance that while you and Princess were pests at least you were an easy on the eye pest. And all those times you saved her. I was jealous thinking why can't I have some guy as loyal and as caring as Princess did." Shego refusing to look up stated.

Ivy rolled her eyes. "This is starting to sound like some damn soap opera." She stated to Harley.

Harley slapped her lightly on her arm. "Shhh Red. This is starting to get good. I wish I had some popcorn." To Shego she said. "Then have you ever fantasized about you and Ron making wild whoopee?"

Shego shot a hate filled glare at Harley but then noticed that Ron while still holding the plastic wrap in his hands was looking back at her curiously waiting the answer as well, taking a deep resigned breath Shego answered. "Yes. I will admit that there have been times… Alone in one of Drakken's lair while lying in my cold empty bed that I've… Thought about you Ron."

Ivy dangerously tapped the detonator against her lip as she considered. "Okay Ron. Command cancelled. Return to Shego's side." She finally said.

"But I think we need more proof that you are not just saying this to save Ronnie's life." Harley added as Ron returned to stand in front of Shego.

"Like what?" Shego gritted out.

"Like if you desire Ron's touch then you should strip for him." Ivy was the one to answer her question.

Shego shot them another glare but finally she slowly started to reach up and undo her costume's jacket and slowly remove it. Moving slowly Shego slid the zipper down and as if dancing to music she eased the costume off her shoulder. Shego could see Ron's eyes as he struggled to keep them looking into her eyes and not let his glance wander down as Shego started to bare herself to him. Shego could see in Ron's warm brown eyes the beginnings of lust and desire, which stripping for a man she expected but also saw something else in his eyes she wasn't sure of but left her with a warm tingling feeling she hadn't felt before. It wasn't lust or desire per sey but more of a longing.

"You… don't have to… do this." Ron fighting the control Ivy had over him managed to whisper.

"I wasn't lying earlier Ron. I probably would never have told you and if I did I would have certainly chosen a better place and time than this but I do find you attractive." Shego said placing a hand on his cheek. "Oh and Ron? You can look down if you want to." She whispered.

Ron's eyes slowly lowered till he was staring at her bared chest. Slowly he closed the gap between them and lowering his head he kissed her deeply.

"Yippee!" Harley squealed. "My pets like each other!"

Ivy rolled her eyes. "Can we just go to bed now?" She asked Harley.

"One more second Red." Harley said gleefully and ran over to Shego and Ron's side. "Ronnie? I want you to make sure Blackie here has a lot of fun and is very relaxed by morning. Understand me?"

Shego glared at the woman but Ron replied. "Yes Mistress."

"Have fun you two." Harley said with a smile and then raced over to Ivy's side. Ivy shook her head at her antics but then much to Shego and Ron's relief started to lead Harley around behind some large crates giving Ron and Shego some privacy for a change. Ivy glanced over at them one last time before disappearing with Harley behind the crates. "Remember. Try to leave this building and your heads pop off like champagne corks and remember your standing orders Ron. Do not allow Shego to do anything that would threaten Harley and I and do not let her try to leave."

Ron against his will nodded his head.

"Oh and make sure Blackie has a great time tonight." Harley's voice called out as she reached up and grabbed Ivy by the top of her costume and pulled the redhead out of sight behind the boxes.

Ron trembling from strain and pain from trying to deny the instructions he was given, tried to pull back from Shego so the woman could cover herself again but stopped as Shego placed a hand on his cheek and turned him to look at her once again. "They said you were to show me a good time Stoppable." Shego brushed her fingertips along his jaw line. "And I want you to."

It wasn't the best circumstances. It wasn't the best place. But it was something that Ron had fantasized about ever since first meeting Shego and now that he knew she was not averse to the idea, it was something he was determined to do right. "Yes Shego." he replied as allowed his hands to wander to areas he would never dare dreamed of touching outside his fantasies.


	3. Chapter 3

Partners in Crime

By Weirdbard

Chapter 3

Scientists that had been working in the labs when Shego and Drakken had broken in and had evacuated to a safer place were finally starting to timidly creep back in. It had been several hours since all the action in the lab areas and finally the scientists had deemed it safe enough to find out what damage the strange couple had done.

The lead scientist, a man with stereotypical thick eyeglasses and balding head was trying to rally his fellow nerds into gathering their courage. "We all heard the noises when whoever our miscreants were left hours ago. I'm sure the labs are now safe enough to return to." He whispered to his fellow eggheads as they neared the door to the main research / security area.

An unconscious Kim Possible hung loosely in the vines of the plant that held her. Her eyelids fluttered once, twice and finally her eyes opened, dazedly she took in her surroundings and opening her mouth she took in a deep breath.

"HE HIT ME!" She roared at the top of her lungs.

The lead scientist with his hand on the door handle let out a very unmanly screech of terror and along with his fellow academics turned and scurried away like mice fleeing from a cat; in their haste they fled the entire research center all together. It was really too late to do any more work that night anyway.

"He... hit… me." Kim continued to shout as she finally managed to raise the laser lipstick that had fortunately not fallen from her hand during her little 'nap' and within moments the plant that had been holding her was reduced to garden mulch. Pulling out her Kimminucator that she kept turned off during missions so as not to be distracted or have it go off while sneaking up on an enemy and slammed her thumb down on the power button so hard she almost bruised her thumb.

"Wade!" She screamed into the device.

As the tiny screen cleared Kim could see Wade's usual spot in front of his computers was vacant and she yelled into the device once again. "WADE!"

Finally with a yawn, a sleepy looking African American teen wearing pajamas sat down in front of his monitors and blinked back at her.

"You went to bed while we were on a mission?" Kim sounding more like an enraged Shego than herself growled at him.

Wade frowned at her. Recently with Kim and Ron graduating from High school and her starting to yo-yo poor Ron and their relationship Kim's attitude had gone downhill and frankly it was starting to annoy the genius. Not only had she recently taken to treating Ron like dirt but she was starting to act that way towards others as well, his self included.

"Gee Kim, the last three missions you guys have gone on you have failed to call me back when they were over with! You have been just going home and leaving me in the dark! If I'm lucky I usually get a call from Ron letting me know everything is all right. I just figured since it was just Shego and Drakken you had foiled them already and found your way home on your own and Ron was so exhausted he simply forgot to ring me and let me know everything was settled…"

Kim waved her hand in a dismissive manner at the Kimmunicator infuriating the dark genius even more than he already was. "That's not important right now Wade. We have a bigger problem than my forgetting to contact you after every single mission."

"And what would that be Kim?" Wade asked, this time the annoyance in his voice was clearly audible. The teen had been having the most pleasant dream of Halle Berry and for some bizarre reason she had been dressed in some kind of outlandish but at the same time very hot looking cat costume and she had been just about to clean herself the way a cat does when Kim's screeching over his computer network had awoken him. Needless to say, he was more than a little irritable at the interruption.

"He hit me." Kim growled out.

"Who? Drakken? I wouldn't think he had it in him." Wade asked in confusion.

"No. Ron. Ron hit me and knocked me out."

Wade's annoyance disappeared in an instant. While Kim had recently taken to treating her partner in an increasingly bad manner, for Ron to suddenly hit her she must have done something truly awful to him. "What did you do to cause Ron to hit you?" He asked.

Kim's face that had been flushed from her righteous anger became absolutely livid. "I didn't do anything!" She shouted. Taking a deep breath she finally calmed enough to explain to Wade everything that had happened. Stopping Shego and Drakken's theft, Shego trying to brain her with the Pan Dimensional device and the flash of light, the two strange women appearing out of nowhere and Ron's conclusion on what it meant, the one in green kissing Ron and how he had struck her when she demanded he put down Shego and help her.

"Wait. You say the new woman dressed in green kissed Ron and he just suddenly started following her orders? What was said exactly?" Wade asked his face scrunched up in confusion. Sure Ron was as easily swayed by a pretty face as the next guy and even though Ron did tend to 'space out' now and then, it was not like him to be that easily controlled.

"Well the one dressed in red and black did say that men tend to do what Ivy told them to after she kissed them." Kim grumbled as she paced back and forth.

"And you didn't find that offhand statement a bit odd?" Wade asked in surprise.

Kim blinked as she rethought over what she had told Wade about what happened. She had been so incensed at Ron's apparent betrayal of her she hadn't really thought about it at the time or upon wakening.

"Do you think her kiss has some kind of mind control drug or ability behind it?" She asked.

Wade gave her a look that plainly said, well doh. "Kim you know Ron. He would rather take a beating himself than strike a woman no matter who they are. Of course he was under some kind of mind control. It is just not in Ron's mentality to hit you… No matter how much you deserve it lately." Wade finished quietly to himself.

"What was that?" Kim asked eyeing the Kimmunicator suspiciously.

"I said unless Zorpox is back. You don't think Ron went into Zorpox mode do you?" Wade covered.

Kim shook her head. "No now that you have me thinking about it, Ron did seem to have a blank stare on his face as if he were in some kind of trance…"

"See? I'll start trying to locate Ron via the tracking chip we have in him but it might take as much as six to eight hours for me to locate him this time."

"Why so long?" Kim growled.

"Look Kim. I maybe a genius but we don't exactly have the funding of NASA behind us. We don't have any satellites of our own up there and till recently I've been hacking into government satellites to locate Ron by his chip but recently the satellites I've been using have either been taken offline or have been reassigned to other countries." Wades' fingers flew over his keyboard. "The closest satellite I can try to hack into to locate Ron is an Italian spy one and it won't be in position for at least eight hours. Not to mention I'll have to hack using Italian and not English which will take me a while to program the translator for. There is just nothing over this area at the moment to use and if I try to move one of the other U.S. satellites to scan for Ron, our government will notice. I'm worried about Ron as well but I'm not going to Guantanamo bay because I was caught screwing with government satellites for nobody."

Kim nodded her head. "Okay, I understand. It's just I feel terrible now. I was so enraged that Ron hit me and now that I know he was under some kind of mind control… He must feel awful about it."

Wade gave her a sympathetic nod. "You know he does Kim. There's nothing you can do right at this moment though so why don't you go home and get some rest? I'll let you know as soon as I have a lock on him where he's at."

Ron woke feeling… Really really great. Sure he was being held hostage by two crazy female criminal types in a drugged state but he also awoke this morning with Shego snuggled up to his side with his arm around her. They were both lying on the warehouse floor with their backs propped up by what if Ron had to take a guess he would decide must be bags of concrete by how hard and uncomfortable they were. Yet even as uncomfortable as the surfaces they were lying on were, Ron still felt better than he had in his life as he slowly moved his free hand over and gently brushed a strand of Shego's hair out of her face so he could stare at her. What man wouldn't feel just a touch of joy at having such a goddess in his arms?

Said Goddess yawned mightily and blinked her eyes and looked up into Ron's smiling face.

"Morning Beautiful." Ron quietly whispered to her.

Shego smiled and then suddenly her eyes grew wide as she realized she wasn't dreaming. Quickly she made a grab toward her chest and was reassured when her hand met the jacket of her costume, while reassuring this also made her blink in confusion and a trace of disappointment.

"I put it back on you after we, well you know. It was cold last night in this warehouse and I didn't want you to get a chill."

Shego nodded her head and the disappointment faded away as she realized that last night had really happened but then frowned. "You sound like you." She finally stated.

"Is that a bad thing?" Ron asked in confusion and a little hurt.

"No, I mean you no longer sound like you are…" Shego tried to explain.

"No longer under the influence of my kisses." Ivy's voice called out from behind them.

Shego tensed up and Ron turned his head to glance over his shoulder. Before either of the two could do more than that, Ivy had already leaned over and captured the back of Ron's head with her gloved hand and pulled his mouth to hers and kissed him deeply.

Once again Ron felt the terrible sensations of his conscious control of his body seep away from him and his mind grow clouded. Oh he still knew what was going on and everything he did, it was just with Ivy's chemicals moving through his system he couldn't muster enough concentration to actively do anything on his own.

"Dammit!" Shego cursed. "Do you have to keep doing that? We have these damn exploding collars on that makes sure we obey your orders! Why must you keep Ron like some zombie?"

Ivy shrugged. "I like it this way. Although I must admit he is confusing me. No man have I ever kissed before has been able to shrug off the effects so soon."

Harley bouncing out from behind the crates they had retired to last night asked. "Maybe this last batch of lipstick is a dud?"

Ivy frowned at her. "I'm a better botanist and chemist than that Harley. There is nothing wrong with the lipstick. The kid must just have a very strong will is all and sleeping must have helped to flush the 

drug out of his system faster as well. Remember that men I use my kisses on usually don't last long enough to do any sleeping. We'll just have to keep a close watch on this one."

Harley grinned at Shego as she came over. "Did you two have fun last night doing…" She paused and holding up one hand she formed a circle with her fingers and the other hand she stuck out one finger and repeatedly moved the finger through the circle.

Shego scowled at her.

"We did not have intercourse." Ron stated in a voice devoid of expression.

"What? But I told you to make sure she had a good time last night!" Harley pouting as if it had been her denied last night.

"I had a good time." Shego gritted out through clenched teeth. "Did you really think we would have intercourse while you two were in the same room with us?"

This seemed to genuinely confuse Harley. "Well we did." She said pointing at herself and then Ivy.

Shego blinked and then frowned. "That is more info than I needed." She muttered.

Ivy gave a sharp laugh. "Oh come on. You had to have already known that. Harley is not exactly a quiet lover."

"I must have been too busy to notice." Shego muttered.

Harley's confusion grew. "But if he didn't… You know. Then how were you busy and didn't notice? And how did you have a good time then?"

"Sheesh Harley. He used his mouth and hands on her." Ivy explained leaving a grateful Shego that she didn't have to spell it out for the seemingly ditzy blond.

"Oh." Harley replied. She then leaned over to stare into Ron's eyes. "But then Ronnie here probably didn't have a very good time." She turned to look at Shego. "Such a shame to leave him a virgin Blackie when at any moment his head might go BOOM."

"I am not a virgin." Ron once again emotionlessly stated.

Oh, right. I forgot. You were once that screeching redhead's boyfriend." Harley said. "I can't imagine she was very much fun though."

"I did not lose my virginity to Kim Possible. We have never had sex. Not even of the type I had with Shego last night."

"Oh really?" Harley asked intrigued. "Then who did you lose it to?" She asked curiously.

Ron trembling as he tried to resist the question but with a fresh dose of Ivy's lipstick running through his system he didn't have a chance.

"The second time Kim broke up with me we were still in high school. Her rival Bonnie Rockwaller kept reminding Kim how I was not high enough on the food chain to date a cheerleader like she was, and certainly not the head cheerleader. That typically head cheerleaders only dated the football quarterback, which happened to be Bonnie's boyfriend, so to finally shut Bonnie up Kim dumped me and took Brick Flagg away from Bonnie. Bonnie in retaliation snuck over to my house late one night and waking me up she had her way with me before I was fully awake. She swore me to secrecy not to tell anyone however as it would have lowered her position on the 'food chain'. A week later Kim broke it off with Brick and came back to me, Brick went back to Bonnie and things returned to normal."

"Gee high school is a lot more cut throat than I remember it being." Harley mused. "So that Bonnie person only had that one night stand with you?"

Ron shook his head. "No she has snuck back a few more times but always only for sex and only on the grounds of total secrecy." As if to defend his honor Ron added. "I only agree to it when Kim and I are broke up, never when we are together. I guess as soon as she finds out me and Kim are not together again she'll be back."

"Guess again." Shego muttered to herself. "That skank comes near you again I'm going to rip out every hair on her head."

Harley heard her and this caused a faint smile to appear on her face. Harley was a hopeless romantic and she knew the moment she saw Ron trying to protect the unconscious Shego that those two felt something for each other and there was 'chemistry' there. All her 'I need new pets' routine had just been a method to force them together, although the fact that both Ron and Shego were very easy on the eyes did help a lot too.

"Wait." Ivy stated. "That redhead back at the labs? She used to be a head cheerleader? Why am I not surprised? What is it about cheerleaders that make them so annoying and grating?"

Harley frowned at her. "What is that suppose to mean? I used to be a cheerleader you know!"

Ivy for the first time since Shego had met her looked other than bored and seemed almost contrite. "You are just the exception that proves the rule Harley." She tried to soothe her lover.

Harley opened her mouth, whether it was to fuel the burgeoning argument on or to forgive Ivy, no one would know because her stomach decided to do the talking for her and growled loudly. "Gee, I'm so hungry Red." She said as soon as her stomach stopped making such a racket.

"Well it's not like we can walk into some restaurant Harley. I'm sure that redhead has already spread our descriptions to the police." Ivy pointed out.

"Well we could send Ronnie here to get us something to eat! He has to follow your orders so if you tell him to get us something and come right back he has to, right?" Harley with a sudden smile proclaimed.

"Hello?" Shego decided to get into the conversation. "Have you forgotten that we can't leave the warehouse or I can't be separated very far from Ron or both of our heads will explode?"

Harley blinked a few times. "Oh yeah, right, I did forget about that. Well, we can send both of you then."

Ivy started to shake her head.

"Oh come on Ivy! I'm hungry! We'll just tell Ronnie here that if he and Shego don't return by a certain time he is ordered to reach up and pull off his collar. Ronnie's head would go boom then and Shego won't let that happen will you?" Harley finished by asking Shego.

Shego frowned but reluctantly agreed. "No, I wouldn't let that happen."

Ivy frowned thoughtfully for a few moments. "Okay." She said surprising Shego. "Either you both come back with food or Harley loses her 'pets'. Either way is no skin off my teeth."

Walking over she kneeled till she was eye level with Ron who throughout all the embarrassment had to sit perfectly still. "Ron, listen to me careful. You and Shego are to go and get some food for all of us. If Shego tries to seek to escape, you are to pull off your collar and kill yourself. If Shego tries to alert someone to what is going on? You pull your collar. You have two hours to get the food and get back, fail to do that and you are to pull your collar. Don't let anyone try to stop you from doing this task for us. Any questions?"

"Yes Mistress. What would you like to eat?" Ron asked dully.

Ivy frowned. "That actually is a good question. I am a strict vegetarian. I don't eat any meat products at all and I'm not real fond of people I don't know fixing my food."

"I can cook for you Mistress if you wish it."

Ivy eyed him. "You know how to cook?"

"Ron here is an excellent cook. He once turned his high school cafeteria into a private restaurant and it was so popular they had to stop other schools from sneaking in to eat there." Shego stated.

Not only did Ivy and Harley turn to look at her, but drugged Ron even managed to roll his head in her direction to look at her.

"What? Drakken keeps detailed files on Kim Possible to try and find her weaknesses. I kept one on Ron." Shego said trying to ignore them.

"You really did have the hots for Ronnie long before we showed up, didn't ya?" Harley smirked at her.

Shego didn't rise to the bait but merely glared at her.

"Okay then." Ivy said pulling everyone's attention back to her and causing Ron to roll his head back to staring into her eyes. "Get groceries from a store and bring it back and prepare us a meal. Vegetarian remember?"

"Aww Red. I want Mexican food. Tacos, enchiladas and all with extra cheese!" Harley whined.

"That crap is no good for you Harley. You need to learn to eat healthy."

"Please?!" Harley whined and for good measure did a passable version of the puppy dog pout.

"Oh all right! Ronnie? Get Harley some Mexican food while you are out too. Understood?" Ivy finally growled.

Ron nodded his head.

While Ivy spent time checking over the collars around Ron and Shego's neck, which made Shego very nervous, Harley went over to the doors to the warehouse and fiddled with something white above them. Shego figured it was the detonator sensor that kept her and Ron inside the warehouse they had been warned about. She hoped the ditzy blond knew what she was doing and didn't accidentally blow her and Ron up before they could even get out of the warehouse.

"Okay." Harley finally called out. "Everything is set here."

Ivy with one final tug on Shego's collar that almost had the dark haired criminal blanching in fear, she nodded her head. "The collars are set. Remember Shego under no circumstances let Ron get more than 

12 feet away from you and if you try to escape, Ron here dies and of course if his collar goes off, so does yours."

Shego gave her a glare that should have melted her but then nodded her head. "I understand. No funny business. We'll be back within two hours with your food."

Ivy blew her a mock kiss and then turned away and walking over to the bags of concrete on the ground sat down. "Better move it. The clock is ticking." She said over her shoulder.

Shego holding Ron's hand rushed past Harley at the door to the warehouse and tried to figure out where the closest grocery store and Mexican food place was.

Kim awoke with bright morning light shining on her face and the sounds of the Kimmunicator going off. Leaping off her bed she grabbed the device sitting on the nightstand beside her.

"Wade? Have you found him yet?" She asked.

Wade appeared on the screen and shook his head. "Not yet. The satellite I plan to use isn't in position yet for another couple of hours."

"Then why did you call me? Someone contact you about a sighting of the two new mystery women or Shego?"

Again Wade shook his head. "No but someone has been repeatedly contacting the website though. Josh Mankey. He keeps sending emails every few seconds wanting to talk to you. Do you have your cell phone off or something?"

Kim nodded her head. "Yeah I turned it off when I went on the mission and with all that has happened I forgot to turn it back on. Did Josh give you any ideas what he wants?" She asked.

"Just that he is desperate to talk to you about something."

"Probably just worried about me, he's like that, always concerned when I go out on missions and wanting to make sure I'm okay. You say it will be at least another two hours till you can get a lock on Ron?" Seeing Wade nod his head Kim added. "I might as well call him and make arrangements to meet with him somewhere and see what he wants."

Wade looked a little disgusted but nodded his head and signed off.

Taking out her cell phone Kim turned it on and immediately it began to ring. Answering it she wasn't surprised it was Josh.

Kim started off by trying to reassure Josh that she was fine but Josh didn't seem to care too much about that or her recent mission but only asked her to meet him at Bueno Nacho as quick as she could because he had something to tell her.

"I hope he's not going to ask me to marry him." Kim mused as she finished redressing in her mission clothes. They weren't the kind of thing one normally wore to a date but she wanted to be ready to go after Ron as soon as Wade located him.

Reaching Bueno Nacho she found Josh sitting at the booth that she normally shared with Ron. Normally this would have made Kim feel a little guilty about it as if she was cheating on Ron even though they had 'officially' broken up again but she shook the feeling off when she noticed that Josh was looking extra good to her this morning. It was probably just the stress of the last few days but Kim had a brief thought of dragging Josh out to the streets so she could parade him around and everyone could see what a hottie she had captured.

Sliding into the booth across from him she flashed him one of her best smiles. A smile he didn't return which was unusual. "Okay Josh, I'm here. What did you want to tell me?"

"You came in your mission clothes?" Josh asked seemingly annoyed.

"Someone kidnapped Ron last night and I want to be ready to go to his rescue as soon as Wade finds him." Kim explained.

Josh sighed. "Well I hope Ron is okay." He finally said. "Look Kim this is never easy to do, even though we have done it a few times before already."

Kim frowned. "What have we done a few times before?" She asked suspiciously.

"Break up." Josh stated.

"What?! Why?" Kim shouted causing a few early morning patrons of the fast food place to glare her way.

"Why Kim? Why? You won't let me touch you. We've dated off and on and never will you let me get beyond a few brief kisses. You let Ron touch you I bet. So if you want to be in a relationship with me, why won't you let us go beyond the few brief pecks on the cheek?"

"Ron has not touched me. Not in the way you are implying anyway. No man has." Kim her face growing flushed in annoyance stated. "I'm sorry you can't seem to understand Josh but I'm Kim Possible. I have very high standards for myself and I just don't believe in sexual adventures before marriage." Kim took a deep breath and mentally said to herself. "And I'm not sure if I believe in them after marriage either."

Josh sighed once again. "Well then I guess this is the end for us Kim. I want more out of a relationship that you seem to be able to give, but hey no hard feelings? We can still be friends…" Josh tapered off and stared at something behind Kim. "I thought you said Ron was kidnapped?" He asked.

The change in subject threw Kim off a bit and she blinked at him a few times before answering. "I did. What's that got to do with you dumping me just because I won't put out?"

Josh nodded at something behind her and Kim turned in her seat to look. There at the counter stood Ron and Shego. Shego was carrying a bunch of grocery bags and Ron stood there calmly as if he was with his girlfriend and only had stopped to order some food before going home with her.

Shego nervously glanced around the fast food franchise. Her appearance was well known due to her being a criminal and being out in the open with the restraint of not being able to get too far away from Ron Stoppable without being blown up was a serious handicap. Although a small part of Shego was 

nearly purring with pleasure at walking by his side as if they were a normal couple doing normal couple stuff. She had hoped to talk to him while they had some privacy from Ivy and Harley but the last kiss Ivy had given him was too strong and he only answered her with monosyllable answers, although she could see the real Ron struggling to make it back out to her.

As she scanned the place her eyes fell on Kim Possible sitting at a table with another guy. "Oh crap." Shego muttered.

Ron as if sensing danger to Shego turned after getting his order and also spotted Kim.

"Crap." The words fell from his lips as well even though his was stated with no emotion at all in his voice. Placing Harley, Shego's and his food bags into one of the sacks that Shego was carrying he turned to fully face Kim as she ran from the booth over to them.

"Ron what the hell are you doing here? I thought you were being held somewhere as a prisoner and I find you here with… Her?" Kim growled as she pointed a finger at Shego.

"Yes, I can see you are all broken up over it." Shego stated. "So much so you went on an early morning date with that Josh Mankey person?"

"How do you know what his name is? Have you stooped so low as to spy on my private life Shego?" Kim snarled at her.

Shego instead of rising to the fight seemed nervous. "Sorry Princess, normally I would love to pound on you to release some tension but right now me and Ron have places to be. And if we don't get there on time it could be a matter of life or death so bye bye."

"Oh you have got to be dreaming if you think I'm going to let you and Ron just walk out of here. He's going nowhere and least of all with a scumbag like you!" Kim shouted as she threw a punch at Shego's face. With Shego holding the bags in both of her arms, there was no way that she could possibly avoid the punch and Kim was already smirking in pleasure of smashing Shego's nose.

But to her surprise her wrist was caught in an iron grip that nearly made her cry out in pain. Looking down the arm holding her wrist she was shocked to see an emotionless Ron holding her.

"Ron! Let go of me! I'm going to pummel Shego and you are just getting in the way… As usual." She yelled at him.

"We don't have time for explanations Princess, just let us both go right now." Shego tried to reason with her.

Kim snorted. "As if! I'm going to do whatever it takes to stop you and Ron from leaving here and short of one of us having to be carried out, nothing is going to stop me!"

Ron released her wrist and Kim thinking he had finally come to his senses turned her attention towards him only to be met with a sudden sharp jab to her face by Ron's fist knocking her out.

"Well I have to admit one thing. When Princess says something she means it." Shego smirked looking down at the unconscious woman. "Someone is definitely going to have to carry her out."

"We need to go. NOW!" Ron stated.

Shego checking her watch nodded her head. "Yeah we'll be lucky if we can make it in time as it is."

Together they ran out of the restaurant leaving Kim lying on the floor. Josh along with a few of the other patrons of the place walked over and looked down at Kim. With a shrug Josh stepped over her body and walked out while the others rushed to see to her aid and call the police.

Twenty minutes later Kim came to. The police still were nowhere to be seen, which considering Middletown wasn't that surprising. Kim staggered to her feet shaking off the hands of the patrons who were trying to be helpful and made her was over to the counter where Ned was standing watching in concern.

"Did you see where they went?" She asked without preamble.

"They stole a car in the parking lot and drove off. Shego was driving. What is going on? Has Ron become a criminal?"

Kim shook her head and reaching into her pocket she pulled out her Kimmunicator. "I wish I knew." She finally said quietly as she pressed the power button on.

"Kim! You have got to stop turning off your kimmunicator. How the hell am I supposed to get in touch with you if you keep turning it off?" Wade said as soon as he appeared.

"Have you found him?" Kim cut him off.

"Not on satellite but I have footage of him at a local grocery store. Their security cameras caught it. While Ron made a distraction, Shego stole a bunch of items from a grocery store." The Kimmunicator's tiny screen switched for Wade's face to show the footage from the camera. As Ron accidentally pulled over a gum display rack near the the checkout counter causing everyone to look in his direction, Shego calmly pushed a cart of items through an empty check stand on the other side only pausing long enough to snag some bags on her way out. It went so smoothly Kim doubted anyone in the store had noticed the theft. Shego had barely cleared the checkout stand when Ron leapt to his feet and woodenly assuring everyone that he was all right raced out of the store behind her.

"Has the store noticed the theft yet?" Kim asked.

"I don't think so. I only learned of it because I had a routine program searching all the surveillance cameras looking for Ron's image and it alerted me." Wade told her.

"Erase the film if you can Wade. Till I can figure out what the hell is going on I don't want Ron in any more trouble with the law than he may already be in." Kim reached up and felt her sore jaw. "Because when I get my hands on that guy, he is going to wish they had locked him away in a jail cell."

Wade's image reappeared on the screen. "What happened?"

"Check the surveillance camera footage of Bueno Nacho. But to put it simply… HE HIT ME AGAIN." Kim growled so fiercely some of the good Samaritans standing nearby to make sure she was all right quickly left the store rather than face whatever had earned the young woman's wrath.

Ivy leaned back on a pile of bags in her makeshift hideout in the warehouse and allowed a pleased smile cross her face. Shego and Ron had made it back just in time and Ivy found that they had stolen a compact but efficient little camp stove and some pots and pans along with the vegetables. After a brief 

time Ron had whipped up an extremely tasting and filling vegetarian dish that surpassed even Ivy's high standards and one she had thoroughly enjoyed. Harley was well pleased by the spicy and overly cheesy Mexican dishes from some fast food place and for a change was quietly lounging next to her. While this place was no Gotham, Ivy thought she might just like it here after all. The air was a hell of a lot clearer here than in Gotham that was for sure. And while Harley's little joke of making Shego and Ron into her surrogate pets was slightly irritating she had to admit she was starting to become fond of them as well.

"_That and any man that can cook that well, well he can't be all that bad."_ Ivy allowed herself to think.

"You were right Shego. Ron can cook." She finally purred out loud.

"I think Ronnie should be rewarded for following our instructions and being a good cook." Harley piped up and then burped. "Oops. Excuse me." She giggled.

Ivy eyed her. "What do you have in mind?"

"Well Shego had 'fun' last night. Don't you think Ronnie should be allowed some fun? The all over body kind of fun men really life?"

Shego frowned at them. "If you really want to reward him, how about not keeping him a freaking zombie? We have the collars. Let Ron be himself."

Ivy considered. "Okay. We'll let my pheromone and hormone cocktail purge from his body without being replenished but remember the collars are still armed and Harley has fixed the sensor over the doors once again so if you try to leave…"

"Yeah yeah, I know. Boom boom." Shego muttered angrily. Turning to Ron she led him from the others to the concrete bags they had slept on the night before and gently helped him to sit down. "Okay Ron, they have promised not to dope you up again. You have to fight whatever remains of that drug she has in your system. Talk to me."

"Kim…" Ron struggled to get out.

Shego frowned. She had hoped his first words were to be of her and not Kim but it was a start anyway. "Kim what?"

"Kim…Is…Going to kill me!" Ron nearly sobbed. "I've struck her twice now. She will never forgive me!"

"Kim knows or should at least suspect by now that you have been under someone else's control. She won't kill you for hitting her." Shego tried to calm him down.

Ron turned to look at her and raised one eyebrow in question.

"Um, okay maybe Princess will be a bit tweaked but I won't let her hurt you until someone can make her understand you didn't want to hit her that you were being controlled and forced to do it and it was totally against your will."

Ron's eyes glanced downward guiltily.

Shego looked at him in surprise. "You wanted to hit her?"

"A little." Ron admitted in a soft voice. "The first time I was so angry with her for just dumping me again and again. And back at Bueno Nacho? You were trying to tell her that we had to leave without fighting but she wouldn't listen. She said she was going to keep you from leaving no matter what and all I could think of was, Kim was going to get you killed and it was all because of her stubbornness. So I had to stop her."

Shego let a small smile cross her lips. Kim interference would have ended up with both of them dead but the only thing Ron thought of was that she might die. Shego had never had a guy worry about her like that. It was kind of nice.

Ron's eyes suddenly grew wide and struggling to get past the drug he forced out. "We have trouble coming."

Shego, Harley and Ivy looked at him curiously.

"Kim has a tracking chip imbedded in me! She'll find this place! I don't know why she hasn't already!" Ron with effort managed to state.

"She has you chipped? Like some kind of lost dog?" Harley asked in outrage. "What kind of person does that?"

Ron, Shego and even Ivy turned to look at her.

"What kind of person puts explosive collars around someone's neck or drugs people?" Shego shouted at her.

"That's different." Harley pouted. "I'm not the guy's supposed girlfriend."

"Ex-girlfriend." Both Ron and Shego said at the same time.

"I mean I'm a crazy, a whack job, a loon. And I'm a criminal to boot. I am supposed to do those kind of things. This Kim of yours is supposed to be a good guy; they aren't allowed to do rotten things like that. Am I right or not?" Harley continued as if she hadn't heard them.

Before they could answer her question, all hell broke loose.

Holes were blown in the roof and men and women dressed in Global Justice uniforms slid in. In a matter of seconds they were surrounded.

Kim came walking calmly through the front doors of the warehouse with Dr. Director and Agent Will Du at her sides.

Harley reached into her costume and pulled out the silver tubes with the buttons on top that Ron and Shego recognized as the detonators for their collars. "Back off or I blow their…" Harley tried to threaten but was stopped as Will Du fired his watch tazer and two thin wires carrying a high voltage charge 

slammed into her chest shocking and temporarily paralyzing her. The two tubes fell from her twitching hands and bouncing and rolling ended up at Kim's feet. Kim reached down and picked up the tubes.

"No Kim. Careful!" Ron struggled to say as he raced over to stop her, Ivy's drugs still making it difficult for him to move or think on his own.

Will Du fired his tazer at Ron but Ron stumbled in mid step allowing them to miss him harmlessly. He raised one hand in preparation to hitting Kim if he had to, to keep her from pressing the button on the top of the tube she was holding. It might be his detonator or it might be Shego's. Ron didn't know but he had stop Kim. But before he could reach Kim she pressed down on the button. A low buzzing noise was heard and Ron could see the tube in her hand start to vibrate. Ron closed his eyes and prayed it was his detonator and that Shego would make it through this alive.

After several moments with no loud booms heard Ron opened his eyes and looked at Kim holding the buzzing device.

"Ron. It is just a vibrator." She stated.

"WHAT?!" Shego's roar could be heard blocks away.

Kim looked at the other tube. "They are both nothing more than common vibrators."

"But…But… what about the sensors over the door?!" Shego shouted pointing at the white object above the warehouse door.

One of the Global Justice agents picked up a long stick off the floor and prodded the object and it fell down to reveal it was nothing more than a empty fast food takeout package that someone had wedged on top of the door.

Shego and Ron turned to look at each other and Ron reached up to his collar and gave a savage tug. The collar broke and Ron could see it was nothing more than a dog collar someone had wrapped with black tape and bits of cloth to make it appear to be padded with explosives.

They both turned to stare at Harley and Ivy.

"It was a joke? Ha ha?" Harley said weakly.

"I'll KILL EM!" Shego roared. And she might have if it hadn't been for Will Du firing and catching her with his tazer.

While Shego was incapacitated, agents quickly rushed over and slapped on specially made handcuffs that absorbed her cosmic powers and kept her relatively harmless.

Ron continued to stare at the broken collar in his hands as Dr. Director made her way towards the surrounded Ivy and Harley.

"Where is the Pan Dimensional Vortex Inducer?" She asked.

"The what?" Ivy asked in an innocent voice. "Harley do you remember anything called a Pan Dimensional Vortex Inducer?"

"Isn't that what we call our vibrators Red?" Harley asked with a smirk.

Shego still on the ground growled in anger but could do nothing more.

Dr. Director got right up in Ivy's face. "Ivy is it? Well we have some very nice dark cells with no soil and I don't think Ivy will grow well there." She growled at her and started to turn away.

"I've been threatened by the best." Ivy stated boldly. "What can you do that hasn't been done by others?"

Dr. Director pivoted on one foot and slammed her fist directly into Ivy's face catching her off guard. Ivy crashed down to the floor with a nose bleed with a suddenly scared Harley by her side. Sure there was fighting in Gotham but usually when the bad guys were captured they were treated with kid gloves by the cops. Harley had the sinking feeling that things were done differently in this dimension.

"I don't know where you come from but you better learn something real fast. Global Justice answers to no judge, no government official or policing agency. We are a force onto ourselves alone. If I decide to, you will disappear. No one will remember you and where I place you no one will hear your screams. No lawyers to argue your case. No judge to rule you are insane and should be treated in a 'special manner'. And If I decide, no headstone will mark your final burial places."

Dr. Director nodded her head at some of her agents. "Get them out of here."

Ivy reached into her pocket and hiding her actions from those watching pulled her mind control lipstick out to put it on but evidently Global justice wasn't taking any chances and several more tazer darts hit her and Harley and knocked them out completely before anyone approached.

The lipstick fell from Ivy's unconscious fingers and rolled across the floor. In the confusion of agents rushing to reach them and everything going on no one noticed the small tube as it rolled and kicked about until it came in contact with Kim's foot. Kim glanced down and reaching down picked up the unfamiliar tube and stuck it in her pocket.

Will Du nodded at the still cursing but on the floor Shego. "What about her?"

Dr. Director barely glanced over. "Of course. Take her as well."

Ron struggled to get words out and try to make them understand that even though Shego was a criminal that at least this one time she was as much a victim as he had been and didn't deserve to be treated so harshly but he couldn't make his tongue work.

Ron and Shego's eyes met as Shego was being dragged out. Ron tried to put as much reassurance in his eyes as he could, while Shego's eyes held defeat and sadness. Ron tracked Shego's removal until she was out the warehouse doors and gone. Before Ron could try to force his feet to follow after her, a strange man in white medical clothing rushed up and started shining a light in his eyes.

"Do you think He'll be okay?" Kim asked nervously as she stood by his side.

The Global Justice doctor nodded his head. "As far as I can tell that Ivy person used some kind of pheromone mixture on him. Makes him follow the orders of any female that administers the drug to him. Nasty stuff but since we have Ivy in custody and she can't give him orders, it'll probably fade away on its own. Safest thing to do is take him somewhere private and let the chemicals flush out of his system naturally."

"No problem doctor. I'm taking him to my house." Kim said with a smile.

Ron's eyes grew wide and he tried to signal the doctor that this was not a good idea. Ron could still see traces of swelling on Kim's face from where he had hit her twice and he wasn't so sure that Kim wouldn't take his incapacitation as a chance to get even.


	4. Chapter 4

Partners in Crime

By Weirdbard

Chapter 4

Ron's footsteps were slow and jerky as Kim helped him out of her car and moved him towards the small house she lived in and not all of the lack of grace in Ron's steps were due to the drug in his system. Of all the places Kim could take him, why did it have to be here? When she had told the Global Justice Medic that she was taking him to her house Ron had prayed she meant to her parents' place. The Possible family home was a place of happy memories for Ron but not this place. The small innocent looking house with the front yard with a white picket fence held nothing but heartache for Ron.

This was the place Ron had helped Kim move to when they had graduated from high school together. This was the place that Ron had rented with Kim when they had made plans to be together forever. And this was the place where Kim broke up with him and literally forced Ron to move out when she decided he wasn't what she was searching for.

Kim gestured at the fence as she led Ron towards the front door. "Remember those roses we planted? They still haven't flowered yet. I still think they sold us dud ones. I mean I've given them constant care and if they were good roses they would have bloomed."

Ron was trying his level best not to give into memories. The flush of victory at finally graduating, the horror as his parents coming to him directly after graduation and telling him he was now a man and could take care of himself and them suddenly moving away for their jobs and leaving him alone, trying to decide if he should go on to college, Kim's decision to freelance for Global Justice so she could live on her own and go to the local college part time. Oh most of her time was still devoted to doing free jobs for people but now she could do an occasional big job for Global Justice and not have to worry about money any more. And Ron had taken to doing the occasional catering job as well. Together they had a respectable cash flow and had been independent and happy. At least Ron had been.

Ron blinked back a few tears that gathered in his eyes. Ron had to admit to himself there had been signs from the very first day he moved in with Kim that something was wrong. As best childhood friends Kim often sat cuddled up close to Ron as they watched movies or just talked but as soon as they moved to official live-in boyfriend / girlfriend status she started to pull away from him. If he hugged her she would try to get out of it as soon as possible and when he went to kiss her most of the time she would turn her cheek so he ended up kissing that instead of on her lips. For the longest time Ron thought it was probably worry over what her father who still thought of her as his little girl might do now that she 

was a grown woman and living with a man but slowly Ron came to the realization that Kim was just not comfortable in the relationship. Of course the real proof was when he had found her in Josh Mankey's arms and Kim told him that she thought it was best if he moved out of their house.

Ron could have fought it. He rented the house along with Kim and it was as much his as it was hers but in typical Ron fashion he gave in rather than risk hurting Kim's feelings and ended up with a tiny apartment downtown and Kim ended up in the house alone. That part always confused Ron. He was sure as soon as he was out she would have moved Josh in and evidently Josh had assumed the same thing because Ron heard they had a huge argument about it in the mall when Kim had flatly refused to let Josh move in with her.

"Things are pretty much like the way they were when you left." Kim said as she opened the door and ushered him in.

Ron would have frowned if he could have gotten his face to move. Things weren't 'pretty much' the way they were when he moved. They were exactly the same as the day the door closed behind him that last time. Kim had kept the house spotless of course but other than that nothing had been moved or changed.

Kim sat Ron down in a chair, in what had been 'his' chair when they lived together and looked down at him. "You know this might be easier if you would say something."

Ron struggled to get words out. The drug Ivy used seemed to ebb and flow. Sometimes he could get words out easily and other times it was like trying to solve a rubix cube while blindfolded and underwater. "Drug … hard… talk." He finally managed to string together.

"Ah. I thought it might just be you didn't want to talk to me." Kim said sadly as she felt her slightly swollen jaw. "You clipped me pretty hard you know. In a lot of ways better than Shego ever managed to do. I kind of figure that much power in your punch; even if you were being controlled had to be fueled by a bit of anger towards me." She plunged her hands into the pockets of her cargo pants, Kim frowned as her hands felt something in her pockets and grasping a hold of the mystery objects she pulled the items out. She blushed slightly when she realized two of the objects were the vibrators that Ivy and Harley had used to fool Ron and Shego. With a look of distaste she quickly sat them down on the coffee table in front of the couch. The third item she held up to look at it more closely.

It was the silver lipstick tube she had found in the warehouse and had idly put into her pocket. Opening it she twisted it and saw pale green lipstick rise out of it. She thought it might be Shego's although it didn't look like any kind of shade she would use.

She started to put it away when she noticed Ron's wide eyes were glued to it.

She glanced back at the innocent looking lipstick. "This is it, isn't it? This is what that Ivy person uses to control men?"

Ron with a nervous twitch of his head nodded.

Kim stared at the lipstick for a several long moments. "What did that doctor say? That it will make any man follow the orders of the woman who administers it?" She asked as a slow grin began to form on her face.

Ron could only watch in fear as Kim slowly put the lipstick on. Turning she leaned over and slowly started to bring her lips in contact with his… Only at the last moment to turn her head slightly and kiss Ron on the cheek.

This was her first mistake. For maximum effectiveness the lipstick had to be applied to a man's lips for it to be absorbed best.

Even so Ron felt the sensation of being in a free falling elevator. It was a sensation he was quickly getting used to as the minute amount of drug slowly entered his body and added to the amount already there.

"Ron? Do you think if I were to tell you something and then tell you to forget it completely afterwards, this drug will make you do it?" Kim asked as she pulled back to stare into his eyes.

"Yes Mistress." Ron stated.

Kim breathed out shakily and to Ron's surprise reached out and gently brushed him on the cheek where she had kissed him, in effect wiping away the green lipstick kiss. This was Kim's second mistake. The kiss being applied to Ron's skin instead of his lips made it slower for absorption. By brushing away the lipstick mark Kim diluted the effects of it even more.

"Josh broke up with me." Kim said suddenly. "Did you know that?"

"No Mistress." Ron stated.

"He left me because I wouldn't let him take our relationship any farther than we had." Kim said softly as she sat back down on the couch to Ron's left. Ron having not been given any orders continued to sit staring straight forward and could only see her out of the corner of his left eye.

"I bet you are wondering why I broke up with you to go after Josh and then wouldn't let him move in or touch me any more than I would let you?"

"Yes Mistress."

Kim nervously licked her lips. Fortunately for her the drug has no effects on females. "Do you think I'm perfect Ron?" She asked after a moment.

"No Mistress."

Kim frowned. "Why not? I mean what other girl my age has accomplished everything like I have? I had the best grades in school. I did the most after school activities. Do you know how many colleges asked, no begged for me to attend them? I even repeatedly save the world!" She asked in a tweaked tone of voice.

"Yes Mistress. I know."

"Yeah I guess you do. You have always been there, haven't you Ron?" Kim asked allowing some of her 'tweaked voice' fade. After several long moments she stated in a matter of fact voice. "I hate being perfect, you know that Ron?"

Ron wasn't sure how to answer that since he knew for a fact that Kim was not perfect. Nobody was. So he remain quiet.

"It is such a terrible burden. Being perfect. I owe it to nature and fate to remain pure until I find the perfect man to be with. I mean it only makes sense, right? Perfect woman is destined, no ordained to only give herself to the perfect man."

Ron's eyes grew slightly larger. Kim thought she was too perfect for a normal healthy relationship? How could he have grown up with her and failed to see the signs, the signs that his best friend in the world was suffering from what could only be described as a type of megalomania? And suddenly with the sickest feeling Ron had ever felt in his stomach he realized. He hadn't failed to see the signs of it developing. He had helped to create it. Along with her parents by always telling Kim that she could do anything. That nothing was impossible for her to accomplish.

When Shego or Bonnie managed to take her down a peg, always being there to tell her it was because they were jealous of her. Ron knew from personal experience from when he changed his hairstyle or clothing style and people started paying more attention to him how easy it was to get a 'big head' and go overboard. But Kim had always seemed so grounded, so reasonable and level headed. But now Ron understood. Kim didn't let the praise everyone kept giving her affect her on the outside but she did listen to it. And over the years she had even come to believe it. She was a Possible and anything was possible for a Possible except allowing herself to love someone who wasn't as perfect as she was.

Leaning down she touched her forehead to Ron's and stared into his eyes. Ron for the first time in his life noticed a gleam of fanaticism and a touch of loneliness behind Kim's eyes. Fanaticism and loneliness he had never noticed before.

"I do like you Ron. I hope you know that. You have always been there for me; no one could be more loyal than you. You have seen me hurt and you have seen me in rage. And yet you have always been there. No matter how many times I throw you away, you always come back when I need you. If I could ever allow myself to be with a common man, ever allow one to touch me, it would be you." Kim stated somewhat coolly.

"But I can't. Evolution and fate have decreed it. I'm perfect and I have to wait hoping someday to find the perfect man and you my lifelong friend are so not it."

Walking back over to the couch she pulled her top off over her head and then unbuttoned her pants.

"Ron look at me." She commanded.

Ron dutifully turned his head to stare at the nearly naked Kim.

"No man has ever touched my body and I begin to doubt that no man ever will but at least for now I want you to watch as I pleasure myself and know that what you see, you'll never be allowed to touch."

Ron wanted to scream that what Kim was about to do was sick and wrong. He wanted to close his eyes. And yet even with Kim basically telling him that he was so much lower than her on the evolution scale, he still wanted to take his best friend in his arms and try everything he could to convince her that she was not perfect and allow herself to experience love and pleasure like everyone else in this world but he couldn't. All he could do was watch.

Kim let her hands slowly rove over her body, gently caressing herself. As she started to get carried away by the feelings and the knowledge that Ron was watching every move she made, she slowly slid her panties down till Ron could see what no one else in the world had ever been allowed to see before. Kim in all her womanly glory revealed.

As Kim began to pant and moan from what she was doing, her hands strayed to the coffee table next to her and found one of Ivy and Harley's vibrators and without thought she turned it on and started to use it.

"I love that you are watching me Ron, I wish it could be you touching me but it can never be. You are just too imperfect. You just can't touch this." She giggled sang.

Ron felt tears running out of the corner of his eyes. What should have been the most erotic sight he had ever seen was turned ugly and grotesque by the knowledge that Kim was nearly dying inside from loneliness and would rather deal with her loneliness in this way than let him or anyone else less perfect 

that her touch her. He longed to take her into his arms and prove that she wasn't perfect. That he could make her feel the way she was making herself feel right now but he now knew she would never allow it. No Ron had spent a lifetime putting Kim on a pedestal and now Kim was isolated and alone on that pedestal and Ron could no longer reach her.

After finally regaining her normal breathing after her release, a sweaty and exhausted Kim looked over at Ron. "Go to sleep Ron." She ordered with a smile. "We might do this again later."

This was the third and final mistake that Kim would make. She forgot to order Ron to forget all that he had seen and heard and she forgot to order him how long to sleep.

"Yes Mistress." Ron stated and promptly closed his eyes and went to sleep.

Ron didn't know how many hours later it was when he finally opened his eyes but he judged it couldn't have been that long. It was a little after lunch when Kim had brought him back to their house and it was not yet dark out.

Turning his head Ron winced as the neck muscles popped in protest at his sleeping sitting up with his neck turned to the left and Ron had sudden several realizations.

One: He was no longer under the influence of Ivy's chemicals. His thoughts were once again clear and he had complete control of his body once more. Evidently the emotional and mental strain plus the brief nap had been all it had taken to purge the last of that accursed drug from his body.

Two: Ron knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that even though he was still in love with Kim and always would be that he could never forgive her for her heart spoken words about his being too imperfect for her or for her controlling him so she could have an audience.

Three: His best friend in the entire world was suffering from a serious mental problem and Ron wasn't qualified in the slightest way to help her overcome it. Indeed he was part of the problem. As long as he stayed with her, following after her like some love sick puppy Kim would have another example on how 'perfect' she was and would never even try to change.

Four: If Ron were to stay he would not be helping Kim and he would be doing nothing but forcing the worst kind of suffering upon himself. He would have to leave Kim and try to forget the love he had for her.

And finally as Ron shoved the door close on his hopeless love for Kim and faced the fact that he had to leave, he realized he would be alone, alone and lonely as there was no one else in his life that he felt for as much as Kim. As Ron contemplated his emotions he realized that he was lying to himself. There was another face in his mind and heart that he was starting to have feelings for and that face belonged to a certain dark haired, green skinned criminal.

Slowly rising to his feet Ron ignored the half covered naked sleeping Kim on the couch beside him and quietly started to make his way to the door to the house. Ron almost cursed out loud when his knee banged the coffee table and a certain lipstick lying on it started to roll off. Reaching down Ron caught the cursed lipstick and clenched it tightly in a fist. He was about to fling it away from him when he realized he couldn't leave it anywhere Kim could find it. With her mental state and knowledge that the lipstick could be used to control men, who knew if she might not be tempted to hunt him down and use it on him again or maybe Josh Mankey or worse yet, her mythical perfect man when she found him? No, the lipstick had to leave with Ron. It was too dangerous to leave it in Kim's hands.

Ron glared at the tube. How could such a simple little object bring so much pain and complications into his life? Angrily he shoved it into his pocket and allowing himself one brief look back at the sleeping Kim and a single tear to fall he went out the door of 'their' house and shut it and that part of his life closed behind him.

Shego stood in the center of her specially reinforced glass cell with her arms angrily folded over her chest.

"Aww come on Blackie don't be that way." Harlee in the cell next to hers tried to coax her as she had been for the last four hours. "It was a joke. And you have to admit it was a pretty good one. You and Ron running all over the place with dog collars on thinking they might go boom at any moment."

Harley now stripped of her colorful costume and forced to wear the drab prison clothing allowed her freed blond pig tails to bob as she paced the few feet her cell allowed her to and totally ignored the death glares she was receiving from the silent Shego.

Shego to take her attention away from the annoying blond studied her surroundings once again. Not that there was a lot to see. They were in a deep underground bunker like prison. There was a long corridor of empty brightly lit glass box like cages. Not much bigger than a grown woman could lie down comfortably in and each one was completely empty of any decorations or furniture. The only thing to break up the monotony of the glass box was a small hole in one corner used for elimination of body waste. They didn't even allow a toilet stool in the room. In the ceiling there were high pressured 

nozzles capable of spraying warm water when it was time to shower, cold water if the inhabitants were acting up and knock out gas if the prisoners for some reason had to be moved.

The three inhabited cells were located at the end of the corridor. Shego was in the cell that the corridor ended at and to her left and slightly forward was Harley and to her right and slightly forward was the cell containing Ivy. The only differences in the cells were Shego's was slightly larger than Harley and Ivy's and Harley and Shego's were brightly lit up while Ivy's, true to Dr. Director's threat was shadowed in gloom.

In front of each glass cage was a numeric keypad on a pedestal that allowed Global Justice agents to open the cages for the occasional cleaning or movement of prisoners.

Harley stopped her wild pacing and pressed her face against the glass as hard as she could and peered across the narrow corridor to where Ivy's cell was. "How you doing Red?" Harley asked in concern.

"Not so good Harley." Ivy answered after a moment. "I wish I had taken the chance of sunning when we were in that warehouse. I feel sick."

Shego looked over at Ivy's cell. "What? She's a person not a plant. Surely she can survive a few days or so without sun?"

"Ivy's blood chemistry has chlorophyll in it." Harley explained. "She stays out of sunlight for too long a period she starts to feel lethargic and nauseous."

Shego blinked. "You mean she really is more plant than person?"

"She's as much a person as you are!" Harley rallied to her lover's defense. "Say, your skin is slightly green too. Don't you have chlorophyll in your blood too?"

"No. I and my brothers were hit by a meteor when we were kids and the radiation in it affected us and gave me my powers along with my skin coloring."

"Oh, sort of like the Incredible Hulk?"

Shego frowned as she tried to figure out if Harley was making another one of her dumb jokes or if this Hulk person was a real being in her dimension.

Ron opened the door to his tiny apartment and dashing in he made for the bedroom. He was relieved to see Rufus was sitting at the computer and occasionally jabbing a key or two.

"_He's probably playing Everlot again."_ Ron thought.

"Come on Rufus we are going to have to leave."

Rufus looked up in confusion. "Involve Kim?" He asked and folded his tiny arms. He had really developed a dislike for her since she had kicked Ron and him from the nice house with the well stocked refrigerator.

"Well in a way it does but not really." Ron tried to explain. There was no way he was going to try to explain to Rufus what Kim had done to him or what he had seen. Ron told Rufus about everything in his life but some things are just too weird to even share with your naked mole rat buddy. "Kim is not well and my being around is only going to keep her from getting better so we have to leave before she comes looking for me." Ron settled for saying as he grabbed his cell phone off the nightstand next to his bed and hit one of the speed dial buttons on it.

Mrs Possible was just finishing setting the table for dinner when the phone rang. She ran over to it and picked it up hoping it was either Kim or Ron. The table was still fairly full with her husband and her twins eating but she missed having her full family at meal times and even though Kim and Ron were broken up at the moment she still thought of Ron as her son-in-law and hoped Kim would realize her love for the man again soon.

"Hello." She answered. "Oh Ron I was hoping it was you or Kim. Do you want to come over for dinner tonight?"

"Um, no Mrs. Dr. P. I can't. I have something I need to tell you and I'm not sure how to go about it." Ron hesitantly replied.

"Is it about Kim? She's okay isn't she? She hasn't been hurt has she?" Mrs. Possible asked worriedly.

"It is about Kim. She is physically well and no she hasn't been hurt… yet. Kind of." Ron Stuttered.

"Ron, start at the beginning and explain to me what you mean." Mrs. Possible ordered.

"Well I can't really tell you everything. It is too personal but what I can tell you is that I was in a recent… Situation that was caused from a mission, Kim took me back to our, I mean her house so I could recuperate. The effects of what happened during the mission left me… Kim thought I couldn't hear or see so she revealed some things to me she wouldn't normally have." Ron rambled.

"What kind of things Ron?"

"She told me that she thinks she is too perfect, that no one has the right to touch her, not only me but almost everyone else in the world as well. That she is waiting for some perfect man because it is her destiny to only be with someone as perfect as she is." Ron said as he started to cry. "I know you probably think I'm lying cause Kim dumped me but I swear I'm telling you the truth Mrs. P. Kim really needs help. Her thinking she is too perfect is killing her inside a little every day and I don't know what to do to help her."

"Ron… Ron… I know you would never lie to me. I trust you like a son." Mrs. Possible sighed. "I just don't know where Kim could have gotten this idea though. I mean sure we have always encouraged her to be the best she could be but to think she is somehow perfect and she can't be touched?"

"I know. I couldn't believe it when I heard her myself." Ron managed to reply. "It does explain a lot though. How Kim always wanted me with her but never would let me touch her or kiss her…" Ron suddenly remembered he was talking to her mother and found himself tongue tied and started to stutter. "Not that I expected Kim to be a nympho or anything like that… I mean I know Kim had a proper upbringing… It's just I thought when we moved in together… Not like that meant she had to…"

"Ron? RON! Calm down. I am certainly more open minded and practical than my husband, I know what you mean. Especially after Kim so defiantly stood up to her father after graduation and told him that she was now a grown woman and could make her own decisions on who to live with and rented that house with you. It is only reasonable that you took it to mean she wanted to take your relationship to a more intimate and mature level."

Ron sighed. "Yeah. I thought I was living a dream at the time, I just didn't know that I was more right than I could ever know. Anyway, Mrs P. Will you make sure that Kim gets the help she needs?"

"Of course I will Ron but what about you? You make it sound like you won't be there for Kim?"

"I… Can't. Kim said some things when she thought I couldn't hear her. I don't think I can ever forget them. That and if I were to stay it would probably only hinder Kim getting well."

"How could Kim's best friend since pre-school hinder her getting well?"

"When Kim starts to see, whoever it is to help her and they start to try and convince her that she is not perfect, what do you think she will do?" Ron asked her.

"She'll go to her best friend and ask you if they are right." Mrs. Possible answered immediately.

"And if she gives me the puppy dog pout and demands I agree with her that her therapist is wrong and that she, as normal is right?" Ron asked.

Mrs. Possible sighed. "I see what you mean Ron. But where are you going to go? Kim is my daughter and I love her deeply but I've come to think of you as my son too Ron. I don't want you to end up miserable and alone just for Kim's sake. If you truly believe you can't be with Kim for her sake, I don't want you to force yourself to be alone."

"Well, there is someone I've met during missions. I think I might be developing strong feelings for her, even though she is completely different from myself." Ron replied as he ran a hand through his disheveled hair. "I mean I don't even know if she feels the same about me, not really. And then there is the path I might end up having to take if we were to become a couple." Ron began to ramble.

"Ron… Ronald." Mrs. Possible had to shout into the phone to gain his attention again. "Speaking as someone who thinks of you as her son, follow your heart." Mrs. Possible felt tears starting to come to her eyes. "And promise me that WHEN Kim has been helped, you will come back to visit us? Even if you Kim never become a couple again that you won't disappear from our lives completely?"

"I promise." Ron said sniffling. "In many ways that count you've been more my mother than my own mother has. I better go now. I need to be somewhere Kim can't find me before she wakes up and we both know how determined Kim can be when she is looking for someone."

"Goodbye Ronald. Take care of yourself." Mrs. Possible said with tears dripping from her eyes as the phone in her hand went dead as Ron hung up.

Mr. Possible walked into the kitchen and found his wife with tears in her eyes. "What's wrong?"

"That was Ronald on the phone. Kim and him have broken up again and Ron is going away for a while. Ron says Kim thinks she is too perfect to let anyone touch her."

"Good for her." Mr. Possible replied. "No one should touch my perfect little Kimmie cub."

Mrs. Possible sighed. Not only would Ron have been a hindrance to Kim getting help, it appeared her own husband was going to be a problem as well."

"I spy with my little eye…Something that begins with a G." Harley called out. Neither Shego nor Ivy answered her.

"Aww come on. I spy with my little eye something that begins with a G."

"GLASS!" Shego finally growled. "All right? It is glass. It is the only thing here!"

Harley nodded her head. "You got it." She tried to sound cheerful but even her bubbly personality was starting to be chipped away. "You would think they would have at least put a bed in here. I mean Arkham at least had beds in their cells. What kind of place doesn't give you a bed and expects you to sleep on the floor like an animal?"

"A place that thinks of you like an animal." Shego sighed. "Actually they started leaving the beds out the last time I was capture with Drakken and used my plasma powers to cut and weld the bed frame into a pick and chiseled and cut my way out."

"That's the second time you've mentioned something about powers." Ivy tiredly spoke up surprising both Shego and Harley who had thought she had gone to sleep. "If you have some kind of powers why didn't you use them on me and Harley?"

"Well at first Harley had caught me off guard and knocked me out and then later I thought if I did you might blow my head off." Shego replied glaring once again at Harley.

"Not because you were getting fond of us and didn't really want to harm us?" Harley asked with a smile.

The handcuff / bracelets still on Shego's wrists sparked as Shego's green glow appeared around her hands as they tried to suppress her abilities.

Harley pulled back away from the glass facing Shego. "Sheesh. And after all we did for you too?"

The glow increased and suddenly the bracelets glowed for a moment and then melting fell off her hands to land in a melted lump. "All you have done for me?" Shego growled.

"I helped you get those cuffs off by making you angry enough." Harley pointed out.

Shego scowled and folded her arms across her chest. "Fat lot of good that does me. The glass in here is still plasma proof. I'm still stuck in here."

"Yeah but your hands are free at least."

Shego allowed a vicious grin to cross her face. "Yeah now I can fantasize about taking my free hands and wrapping them around your throat."

Harley instead of being frightened merely smiled. "I always knew you wanted to get your hands on me Blackie."

"Why you little…" Shego was interrupted by Ivy calling out. "What is that noise?"

With all three now quiet Shego could hear the light thumping noise coming from the air vents above them. The venting system had grates above the corridor walk way while the glass cages had tiny little holes near the ceiling that allowed the 'fresh' air to get in and tiny holes at the very bottom of the cells to let the 'bad' air out.

"That better not be who I think it is." Shego muttered to herself.

All three women leaned casually on the glass walls in the fronts of their cell and watched the air vent nearest them in the corridor out of the corner of their eyes. There were surveillance cameras watching the corridor and none of them wanted to tip off anyone who might be watching that something might be coming through the vents.

Harley frowned and almost said something when she spotted what looked like a tiny pink paw come out of the vent and carefully start to unscrew one of the screws holding the vent cover on. The tiny paw disappeared into the grating with the screw as it came loose and a moment later appeared at the other corner and started to work on that screw.

As the last screw came loose and disappeared up into the vent along with the pink paw, the vent cover slowly and silently rose up into the ceiling. A few moments later a small pink creature appeared with what looked like tiny suction cups on its hands and feet and with only a slight popping noise it raced across the ceiling towards one of the surveillance cameras. A brief baring of teeth and nibbling and the camera was dead. The small strange pink thing ran across the ceiling to the other two cameras and repeated its performance and the other cameras were dead too.

Finally the small animal ran down to the side of the glass of the cell Shego was in and stared at her for a few moments as if judging her somehow. It then turned to look up at the open vent. "Okay." It called out in a squeaky voice.

Ron dropped from the hole and landed semi gracefully on the floor.

"Ronnie!" Harley shouted in surprise. To Harley's annoyance Ron ignored her however and went straight to Shego's cell. Holding up a hand Ron waited as Rufus leapt to him and pulled off the tiny suction cups on his paws and feet and quickly running down to Ron's pocket Rufus placed them inside and then ran back up to Ron's shoulder where he perched staring at Shego.

"What the hell are you doing here Ron?" Shego asked.

"Um… I was just crawling through some air vents nearby and thought I would drop in and rescue you?" Ron asked.

"No." Shego said flatly.

"What?" Harley next door said in shock.

Shego didn't glance at her but continued to stare into Ron's eyes through the glass. "You are a hero Ron. A good person. I won't have you banned as a criminal for trying to rescue me. Take Rufus and climb back into that vent and take off before someone upstairs gets curious why all their cameras have gone dead on this level."

Ron continued to look into her eyes for a moment before he sighed. Finally he said. "You know, I'm really starting to get fed up with the women in my life trying to control and tell me what to do. I am quite capable of making my own decisions and deciding what and whom I want."

Shego felt a hitch in her breathing for a moment. "And what has that got to do with me?" She asked being careful to keep the hope out of her voice.

Ron reached up and placed his hand against the glass and after a moment almost as if it was against her will Shego reached out and placed her hand on the same place on her side. Even though the glass was over two inches thick she fancied she could feel the warmth of his touch through the glass. "I think you know." Ron stated. "The question is, am I the only one that feels that way?"

Shego wanted to say yes. That Ron had misread what have transpired between them when they were under Harley and Ivy's control. She wanted to give a laugh that she knew would cut Ron to the quick and make him leave. Make him think it had all been in his head and Shego felt nothing for him but… She couldn't. "Damn it Ron. This probably won't work."

Ron nodded his head in agreement. "Probably not."

"We'll have almost everyone in the world after us and if they catch us they'll treat you just as much a villain as I am."

Again Ron nodded his head. "Probably."

Shego sighed and leaned forward until her forehead was gently resting against the glass. Opening her eyes she noticed Ron had done the same thing and she was staring into his eyes, separated by only two inches of plasma proof glass. "You are not going to just leave like you should, are you?" She nearly whispered.

"Not without you." Ron replied.

"Oooh! This is so romantic!" Harley, her hands clenched beneath her chin with stars in her eyes squealed.

Shego took a deep breath and slowly released it. "Okay. So how did you plan on freeing me from this box?"

Ron stepped back and with a grin reached up and gently took Rufus from his shoulder. Opening his hand he allowed Rufus to stand on it and bow in Shego's direction. Without a word Rufus then leapt to the pedestal and started dancing on the keys of the control pad. To Shego's eyes it looked a little like the naked mole rat was doing a riverdance stomp. With a particular dramatic flourish Rufus suddenly stopped and yelled. "Ta dah!"

With a hiss of compressed air the glass door to Shego's cell opened.

Shego looked in amazement at Rufus for a moment. "No wonder Dr. Drakken and I never won all those times." She muttered to herself. Finally she smiled and bending over kissed the little mole rat on top of his head. "Thank you Rufus." She said.

"Aww shucks." Rufus replied blushing and then leapt back up to Ron's shoulder

"So that is what a Rufus is?" Harley in the next cell asked.

Ron and Shego ignored her while Rufus glanced at her curiously.

"Come on. It's time to go." Shego decided and they started to walk past Harley and Ivy's cells back to underneath the open vent hole.

"Hey! What about us?" Harley cried gesturing at herself and Ivy.

"Give me one good reason why we should?" Shego asked without breaking step.

"If it hadn't been for me, you two would never have gotten together!" Harley cried. "Ron would still be with that screeching redhead and you would two would still be on opposite sides and never admit how you felt!" Harley cried.

Ron stopped in front of her cell and tilting his head he looked over at Shego. "She's right you know."

Shego sighed. "Just keep her away from me. Okay?"

Ron slowly smiling nodded his head. Turning he looked at Rufus.

"Uh huh. Okay. Sure." Rufus squeaked and leapt to the pedestal in front of Harley's cell. A few rapid tap dancing moves and Shego could just imagine the naked mole rat holding a walking cane and a top hat while he did it and Harley's cell hissed open. Harley pranced out and bending over she stared at Rufus at close range. "He's kind of cute." Harley decided after a moment. "Does he have a nice laugh?"

Ron frowned in confusion while Shego resisted the urge to roll her eyes.

Ron picked up Rufus and once again they started to walk off.

"Wait!" Harley cried again. "What about Red? You have to spring Ivy too!"

Shego started to shake her head no. "You may have made a reason why we owe you but neither I nor Ron owes Ivy anything. She kept poor Ron doped up and treated us both like slaves. You can't possibly give me a good enough reason Ron or I should go out of our way for her."

Harley with her eyes filling with tears said quietly. "But I love her. I love her as much as you and Ron love each other. I can't live without her and I can't figure out the code to her cell by myself."

Shego started to say tough luck but stopped as Ron turned without a word and walked the few paces back to Ivy's cell door.

"One condition to my releasing you Ivy." Ron said to the woman standing in the gloom of her cell watching him.

"What?" Ivy asked weakly. The lack of open skies, sunlight and fresh air was starting to take its toll on her.

"Never use that mind control lipstick on me again!" Ron replied. "I've had enough of that stuff to last me a lifetime."

Ivy nodded her head. "I swear, I will never again attempt to control you or Shego."

Ron looked over at Rufus. "Okay Rufus. Do your thing."

Rufus leapt over to Ivy's touch pad but this time seemed to glide across the keys as if dancing solo to a waltz. A few seconds later Ivy's door hissed open as the correct code was entered. Harley raced inside as soon as the door opened and taking Ivy by her arm and allowing her to lean on her slightly helped her out. Ivy's skin which had paled in the shadows started to slowly return to normal once she was in the lights of the corridor. The artificial light wasn't sunlight but it was still good enough to return a slight amount of her strength to her anyway.

Ron hadn't stuck around once the door to her cell was open and had walked back to where Shego was waiting for him underneath the vent. "Ladies first." Ron said crouching down slightly and holding his hands cupped together. Shego placed a foot into his hands and let him boost her up to the vent and disappeared inside.

As Harley helping Ivy reached him Ron once again cupped his hands. Harley making sure that Ivy wouldn't fall over, quickly ran to him and sprang up and was inside the vent too. Ron glanced over at Ivy.

"I don't need your help." Ivy stated flatly.

Ron just shrugged and leaping up caught the edge of the vent and pulled himself inside.

Ivy leapt up but found her recent weakness was too great and she couldn't make the distance to the vent's edge. With an angry scowl she tried once again but fell short. Placing her hands on her knees she breathed in and out trying to regain her strength. As she stood up once again she found her face to face with an upside down Harley who was hanging from the open vent.

"Need help Red?" She asked.

"How are you…?" Ivy started to ask.

"Ronnie is holding my feet so I don't fall." Harley supplied. "You should really try to be nicer to him Pammy. He's a good guy."

Ivy sighed. "That's the problem Harley. He's a GOOD guy. Sure he's thrown that all away for Shego but deep down inside he's still a nice, honest law abiding MAN. He won't last as a criminal like us and we will just get arrested again if don't try to put some distance between us and them."

Harley looked thoughtful for a moment but then shook her head. "I think you are wrong this time Pammy but we can talk about it later after we are out of the prison."

Ivy frowned as for once it was Harley making sense but then nodded her head and as Harley remain still Ivy climbed up her body into the vent.

"Up, up and away!" Harley called out gleefully as Ron and Ivy pulled her back into the vent. A few moments later the vent cover was lowered through the hole and pulled back up flush with the ceiling and tiny pink paws quickly put the screws back in.

After a long somewhat torturous route through multiple vents, with Ron staring at Shego's butt and Harley staring at his, and Ivy staring at Harley's as they made their way through, they finally found themselves on top of a mid-sized building in Middletown. The air vent to Global Justice's underground prison being disguised among the other vents belonging to the building.

"How did you know this vent led to the prison?" Harley asked as she looked around at the view from on top of the building.

"Kim and I once helped Global Justice with some prisoners." Ron said, careful to not mention it had been Shego and Drakken. "I was curious on where the prison complex was so I asked Wade to locate it using GPS. Since I knew where it was, it only made sense they had to pipe in air from somewhere so tonight I located the building over the GPS coordinates and then me and Rufus just started sniffing vents.

Harley looked at him in question.

Ron pointed to one of the vents. "That one smells like Chinese food so obviously it leads to the Chinese restaurant in this building. That one smells like a clean laundry…"

"Which means it leads to the dry cleaners in the building." Shego realized.

"And this one." Ron said pointing a thumb back at the one they had just climbed out of. "Smells of nothing. No scents at all which means…"

"It must have lead to a place kept clean and sterile. Like a high tech prison." Ivy finished for him.

"Clever." Harley admitted.

Shego walking to the edge of the building pointed downtown. "You two go that way. Ron and I are going this way. Agreed?"

Ivy nodded her head while Harley just looked disappointed.

"Good." Shego said and taking Ron by the arm they made for the fire escape and started their way down.

AAAA

Author's notes:

AAAA

I normally think that a writer is a bit like a musician. Neither should defend their works. A piece of music or a story should stand on its own. You either like or you dislike it. And that is fine, that's the way it should be.

Saying that however, I also feel it is all right for a writer to explain why they do a story some way. So the readers can see how the writer thinks and what motivates him to write in one manner or another.

On my writing of Kim Possible as believing she is 'perfect'. In the series we have seen people trying to thank Kim for things she has done for them. Phrases similar to, "thank you for pole vaulting a mighty chasm and then dancing on the back of a horde of wild rampaging wolves in the pouring rain to reach my cabin and retrieve my car keys for me." While in this case is totally made up by me is also not too far off what Disney writers came up with on a regular basis. And what is Kim's response each and every time? "No big."

Now for a person to say something like that, at least in my mind only leads to one of two conclusions. One is false modesty. She knows what she has done was nearly beyond human abilities but she doesn't want people to think she is an egotist so she down plays it in public or two; she really believes it wasn't anything special for her. In this story I chose to try and get inside her head and write as if she believes the second conclusion. In which case she would have to believe she is beyond 'normal' people. That it is no big because she is perfect and can't fail. And taking that idea and running with it I asked myself how someone who thinks they are 'perfect' would see others around them. She would have to believe that everyone is beneath in some manner. After all they can't do what she can, so by nature they are less perfect than she is. And how would someone who is thinking that way contemplate sex? She would have to feel that by having sex with a less pure and perfect subject that herself that she is somehow letting down nature or fate. That she would be lowering or compromising her standards to let them touch her. Anyway that is how I'm writing this particular story. Those that read my other Kim stories know I don't have her with an aversion to sex in those. LOL.

On Harley and Ivy:

I've had a reviewer that told me that Ivy is bisexual. That she doesn't hate men and they pointed to the comic book series to prove it. I base most of my characterizations off of Batman: The Animated Series. In Ivy's case this is the series where she tried to poison Harvey Dent for destroying a field of flowers to break ground for a prison and the one where she teamed up once with Harley Quinn in episode 556: "Harley and Ivy" and made the comment , "That no MAN will ever catch them." That cartoon btw she and Harley are caught by officer Montoya, a woman police officer. I believe that series even though it doesn't come out and say it makes a very good subtext argument that Ivy is a lesbian and has strong feelings for Harley. In the episode I quoted above Ivy becomes enraged when she notices that Harley missing the Joker uses the vegetarian food that Ivy had given her to paint a clown face on her plate.

In any case, when I write Harley and Ivy stories I always put them together. Ivy is a much better match for Harley than the Joker anyway.

Thank you for reading and I always look forward to your comments and reviews. (both Good and bad)

Weirdbard.


	5. Chapter 5

Partners in Crime

By Weirdbard

Chapter 5

Ron wondered where Shego was leading him but since this was his first time being a wanted criminal on the run, or soon would be, he decided to keep his mouth shut and let the more experienced Shego take the lead on where they went. Ron figured their first priority would be getting out of Middletown while they had the chance but instead Shego led him to a rough business district that Ron never even knew existed. To outsiders and indeed to most people that had lived their entire life in Middletown the town appeared like a cross between the kind of 50's town Happy Days had and the mythic rural paradise of Mayberry R.F.D.

These people would have been shocked to find the kind of district Shego was leading Ron through right now existed inside their clean 'safe' town. Liquor stores next door to tattoo parlors next to adult book stores. Ron idly wondered to himself how he managed to get through high school without at least hearing locker room talk from the other guys about the adult bookstores.

His musings were brought to an end as Shego stopped in front of a small brick building that was located down a side alley between just such adult bookstores. Shego walked boldly up to the doors and knocked. A moment later a small sliding slot in the door opened and two of the yellowiest eyes Ron had ever seen peered out at her.

"What's the password?" The voice that one presumed was partnered with those eyes asked.

"Open the blasted door before I blast the door." Shego in her lovely way growled at the eyes.

Ron instantly heard several bolts on the door being drawn and a moment later the door opened letting light spill into the dark alley way. Shego reaching back grabbed Ron by the arm and dragged him in with her and the door instantly slammed shut again behind them and the yellow eyes peered distrustfully out at the alley a moment before the sliding slot slammed shut as well.

Ron found himself in a dimly lit workroom / living room that smelled of grease, ozone and somewhat worryingly of blood. Small tables in the room were piled high with a combination of computer parts, complicated circuits, soldering irons and jars of floating organic looking things that Ron just knew would fuel his nightmares for the next few years. Turning to look back at the man that had let them in, Ron 

could see he was wearing a white doctor's smock and that it was stained in several spots by what appeared to be old blood. The man's face was long and lean. A gleaming bald head reflected the light of the room as the yellow eyes stared back at Ron coldly. All in all Ron had a sudden chill as the movie Frankenstein ran through his mind. Ron was looking at a living breathing version of Victor Frankenstein.

"Where have you been shot this time Shego?" The man asked in a gravelly voice as he took his attention off of Ron to glance at Shego.

"Not this time Wolfgang. Ron here is your patient." Shego retorted as she looked around the room in distaste. "Do you never clean this place?" She asked.

"Patient?!" Ron nearly yelped.

Wolfgang glanced at Ron with a raised eyebrow. "The boy? He does not appear to be shot. What possible reason could you have brought him to me for?"

"Interesting you used the term Possible." Shego muttered to herself. "Ron here has a tracking chip somewhere in his head. I need you to get it out." She said out loud to Wolfgang.

Ron looked nervously at Shego. "Wouldn't it be better if I went to a doctor to have that done?" He asked her.

"Wolfgang might not look like it Ron but he is a doctor, among other things." Shego explained. "Certain individuals of the underworld use Wolfgang when they need things done but can't go to the nice clean legal medical establishment."

"You?" Ron asked in surprise.

"Well when I first got started as a criminal I had to a couple of times. But mostly my enhanced healing takes care of stuff like that and once I joined with Drakken I let him take care of anything major that came up."

The 'doctor' Wolfgang sniffed in affront when Shego mentioned Drakken. "What right does that charlatan have to call himself a Doctor? What medical school did he graduate from?"

"Now, now doc., we're not here for old rivalries. I just want to know can you locate and remove the tracking chip from Ron?"

Wolfgang walked between them towards a door at the other end of the room. "Of course. Piece of how do you say? Cake." He said as he opened it and made a gesture for them to follow him.

Shego placed a hand on Ron's shoulder, not to push him into the room but to just let him know that she was with him all the way and he had nothing to panic over.

Stepping into the room Ron found this room was as clean and orderly as the room they had just left had been messy and disorganized. The sharp and familiar tang of disinfectant stung Ron's nose. No one who had as active a life style as he did, or been around a mother of his best friend who was a doctor could forget that smell.

In the center of the room was a high tech looking chair. It looked a little like a science fiction version of a barber chair as Ron could see that it could be reclined fully and raised or lowered as needed. Behind the chair was the really scary part however. A shining chrome praying mantis was the only way Ron could think to describe the machine. A large central pillar rose up from the floor with multiple long chrome arms hanging loosely at its sides and two bulbous optical eyes on a triangular 'head' stared down at the chair.

Ron had a sinking feeling in his stomach that he was expected to sit in said chair.

Rufus who had retired to one of Ron's pockets chose that moment to stick his tiny head out and take a look. Spying the machine he gave a yelp of fear and dove back into the pocket and pulled the flap firmly closed. Ron shot Shego a scared look and for once wished he had a pocket to hide in as well.

"Calm down Ron. I know the chair looks bad but trust me I've sat in it before."

"You will not feel a thing. It will be over before you realize what hits you." Wolfgang in his monotone voice stated.

Ron turned to look back at him and resisted the urge to say, that is what I'm afraid of. Finally, his eyes continuing to grow large he turned to flee the room but was stopped as Shego stepped in front of him. "Do you trust me Ron?" She asked.

Ron's shoulders slumped. "That is a dirty trick to pull on a guy." He muttered. Looking back up into her eyes he sighed. "Yeah I trust you. Are you sure of this guy?" He asked lowering his voice to keep from insulting the 'doctor'.

"Yeah I am." Shego whispered back to him. Raising her voice she added. "Cause he knows if he hurts you in any way I'll melt him into his machine."

Ron decided he would have felt better about that if it wasn't for the fact that the doctor had crossed over to his machine while he was attempting to flee and the doctor was now caressing the fearsome looking chrome arms of the machine. Ron thought the doctor would probably not mind being merged with his creation if the loving looks he was giving it was any indication.

With a deep breath Ron calmly, well as calmly as one with quaking knees could, walked over to the chair and sat down in it.

The doctor nodded his head in approval at Ron's actions and rapidly typed something into a keyboard mounted at the back of the machine. Several steel straps sprang into life and wrapping around Ron chest and arms pulled him tightly into the chair and prevented him from moving. Pressing a final button the 'doctor' then stepped back to stand next to Shego as the menacing praying mantis machine shuddered to life.

The large triangular 'head' of the machine extended forward and Ron found himself staring up at it as it cocked its head to one side and then the other. One of the mechanical arms silently slid forward and extending revealed an almost tiny mechanical hand that surprisingly gently coaxed Ron into turning his head to the side. The mechanical head then went through the side to side movements again. Ron hearing clicking noises noticed the 'eyes' of the machine changed color several times during the examination.

"The Mantis is scanning you via several different means." Wolfgang's voice called out from the side.

"_Oh great."_ Ron thought to himself. _"The thing really is called Mantis. Any moment it is going to lean forward and teeth are going to appear and it will rip my head off and eat it. I just know it. Wonder what I will taste like to it? Bet I taste like a naco with extra cheese." _Ron rambled to himself.

Suddenly the chair Ron was sitting in lifted up and rotated until Ron was now facing down at the spotlessly clean floor and the Mantis was poised over his head. Ron in his position couldn't see the triangular head above him which was probably just as well as the head split in the middle and opening indeed revealed what looked like tiny serrated teeth. With the large 'eyes' now separated and viewing Ron from wide angles, the head lowered until the 'teeth' came into contact with the base of his skull.

Ron feeling the touch of something on the back of his head was just about to panic and demand to know what was going on when he felt a slight pinch on his scalp. Before he could feel any real pain there was a warm tingling feeling and the sensation of pain faded before it was completely felt. A few moments later the chair rotated back into its upright position and the straps released him.

Getting up from the chair Ron made the mistake of glancing back at the Mantis and nearly squealed at the sight. The eyes of the machine were still extended to the sides and the 'teeth' were still bared. A tiny drop of blood was on the edge of the teeth and just above the blades was a round tube like a tongue sticking out at him.

Ron clapped a hand to the back of his head but was relieved when the hand showed no signs of blood on it when he brought it around to his eyes. "What just happened?" He asked a little shaky. His composure wasn't helped when he looked over to see a pale looking Shego staring at the machine.

"My machine found the tracking bot on you and then removed it, simple as that." Wolfgang replied as if he had just told someone he had removed a hangnail from them.

"What is that thing?" Ron said turning to point at the teeth and tongue of the machine behind him.

"This." The doctor replied as he walked over and lightly touched the serrated blades. "Is the scalpel the machine used to cut into the back of your skull. Not visible now is a tiny probe that grabbed the tracking device from its location and pulled it free." The doctor then pointed at the tube sticking out of the machine's 'mouth'. "Is the mutagenic laser that was used to heal the bone of your skull and then the layer of skin over that and finally it even regenerated the bit of hair that had to be removed to get to your skull."

Ron swallowed nervously. "Oh." Was the only thing he could think to say.

"Would you like to see the tracking bot?" Wolfgang asked as he walked over behind the Mantis and pressed a button. A center section of the central support of the machine hissed open and a small glass container not much bigger than a pen rose up on a steel table.

Shego walked over to stand next to Ron as they watched the container rise up. "Why do you call it a tracking bot? I thought it was a simple chip?" She asked.

"Oh nein, nothing as simple as a chip, a chip would have to have been implanted by surgery and surely your young man would have known about it. No this was a complete miniature robot." Wolfgang pressed another button and a screen lowered in front of the glass container and Shego and Ron could see a magnified version of what was contained in the glass. The tracking bot looked a little like a small worm except one end of it had what appeared to be tiny buzz saws attached to arms on it.

Ron felt ill as he realized that thing, even if it was nearly microscopic had been in his head. "What are those things?" He asked pointing to the buzz saw like appendages. As he leaned over the bot on the screen suddenly jerked to life and lunged at him. Ron leapt back but felt a little silly as he realized it was just a monitor screen he had been looking at. His feelings of silliness disappeared as he realized it meant the object in the glass tube had still lunged in his direction as he neared.

"The bot was programmed to search you out, crawl into your nasal cavities and then using the instruments at the end cut into the bone at its weakest point in your skull and then it moved itself into position and started transmitting its signal." Wolfgang explained. "The movement of the bot shows it is still trying to carry out its orders." Wolfgang pressed another button and the worm on the screen started to break apart and melt before Shego and Ron's eyes.

"That thing was burrowing through my brain?!" Ron horrified asked.

"oh nein, not your brain. It merely made a small hole in your skull and then swam in the protective fluid between the bone of your skull and your brain till it reached a preprogrammed location and attached itself to the bone." The doctor explained.

"Oh, yeah that makes all the difference." Ron said as he tried to find somewhere to sit down as his legs went weak, anywhere except in the chair in front of the Mantis that is.

"Why did you destroy it?" Shego asked as she peered at the screen and watched the last of the tiny bot dissolve.

"It was trying to reattach itself to your friend. Not only might it have succeeded if it had escaped the container, it was probably sending a signal back to whoever made it that it had been removed and was attempting to reestablish contact. For obvious reason I do not want the location of my labs to be known to everyone." The doctor with an arrogant tilt of his head stated.

Shego noticed Ron leaning on one of the walls of the lab and gently ushered him back into the main room of the doctor's place. There she found him a chair to sit in after she moved a glass container that held something that even Shego wasn't too eager to identify.

Looking over her shoulder she said to Wolfgang. "Do you still have one of my old spare costumes from when I first used to come here?"

Wolfgang frowned at her. "Yes I do. I am not a clothing storage depot either you know." He grumbled.

Shego waved his complaint off. "Yeah, yeah I know, it still in the same place as last time?" She asked as she walked to a small door to one side of the room and moved some boxes out of the way and opened it.

Wolfgang nodded his head as he picked up another glass jar off a desk and lifted the lid from it.

Ron still in horror and shock at what he had been put through had a sudden fear that the doctor was going to pull something out of the jar and eat it but was a little relieved as the doctor turning to pick up a small plastic container and Ron noticed that at least that glass container held nothing more scary than a goldfish in it and the doctor was just feeding it.

Ron watched as the doctor cooed at the fish as he fed it and felt movement at his side. Glancing up he noticed that Shego had returned and she had taken off the drab gray prison uniform and was now 

wearing something more like her normal costume, only not exactly like it. The clothing Ron was familiar with Shego wearing had full length pants alternating in black on one leg and green on the other. Black and green boots, gloves and a somewhat bulky black and green jacket finished off the fashion statement.

The costume she was wearing now had a tight, almost molded to her form body suit in black that covered her torso. Mid bicep gloves that alternated in stripes of black and green covered her arms. And mid thigh boots, also alternating in green and black stripes covered her legs. A shimmering emerald cape made out of some material Ron couldn't identify hung from her back.

Shego waited as Ron examined her new look. "Any comments?" She finally asked raising an eyebrow in challenge at him.

"I like the body suit and the fact this costume shows off a little more of your skin but the cape?"

"Hey this is one of my first costumes once I went villain and I'll remind you when you were Zorpox you went with a cape as well." Shego pointed out.

"Hey, I wasn't in my right mind then!"

Shego kneeled down until she was at Ron's sitting eye level. "Are you now? You've thrown everything away to free me and are ready to run off with me. I won't go back to being a hero Ron, you know that."

"Why are you saying this to me Shego?" Ron asked.

"Rufus took out the cameras in the prison. No one knows it was you that freed us. You can sneak back home and when Kimmie comes looking for you she need not know. You can still go back to the way things were Ron."

Ron appeared to ponder for a moment. "Yeah, go back and as soon as Wade and Kim realize I no longer have a tracker in me, they'll slip one in one night while I'm sleeping and it will bore into my skull and leash me again? Go back to risking my neck day after day to save the world and no one can remember my name? Go back and someday have Wade or Global Justice send us after you and I'll have to lock up 

the woman I lo.." Ron swallowed. "No Shego. I don't want to go back. I know you think you are trying to save me from being corrupted and becoming a criminal but it is my choice to make. And I choose to stay by your side."

Shego sighed. "Okay. I tried. You want to risk your neck with me? Fine but just keep in mind that I am not changing my ways. I am a criminal and I like it that way. You don't have to go out with me or help me in my crimes but I expect you not to lecture or try to change me when I come back from a job!"

"Wouldn't want to" Ron replied with a grin. Looking over at the doctor who was still cooing at his fish he called out. "Hey doc? Do you think you have any men's clothing that will fit me?"

"Not you too? What do I look like? Fashion supplier to the underworld?" Wolfgang put his goldfish down and frowned at Ron.

"Just answer him will you?" Shego growled.

"Check in the room Shego went into. Just make sure my account is accredited within the next three days Shego, the usual amount. I won't charge you for the storage of your old clothing or whatever the boy can find. Call it a gift to an old valued customer." Wolfgang waved a hand dismissively in Ron and Shego's direction. "I need to go clean my Mantis now." He stated as he moved back towards the lab.

Ron managed to wait until the door to the lab closed before he started quaking with repressed laughter. "You think he spends a lot of time 'cleaning' his mantis?" Ron asked.

A moment later Shego rested her forehead against his as she silently laughed too.

Shego sat in the chair that Ron had vacated and frowned. "Come on Ron I thought it was women that were suppose to take forever getting dressed. There isn't that large a selection of men's clothing in there! What is taking you so long? I hope you aren't trying on some of the women's things too?"

Ron stuck his head back through the doorway to the room. "So not funny." He commented. "Although some of the silkier things…"

Shego raised a hand. "Don't finish that sentence please."

Ron grinned as he stepped fully into the room. Gone was his typical cargo pants and hockey shirt to be replaced by all black clothing. Black leather pants were tucked into ninja like boots and the only concession to another color Ron had allowed was a tight black shirt that had a single stripe of green on it that ran diagonally from one shoulder to Ron's opposite hip. Personally Ron loved his new clothing. In his view it proved that his old life was over with and a new one was beginning and the clothing proudly proclaimed that in this new life he belongs to Shego since the clothing was in her 'colors'.

Rufus stuck his head out of a pouch attached to a belt around Ron's waist and pointed up at Ron. "Tah Dah!" The naked mole rat proclaimed.

Not hearing a response Ron glanced at Shego. Maybe she didn't like the clothing? Ron found her staring at him silently as if she was Rufus and Ron was the last Naco at Bueno Nacho. "You think she likes it?" He asked Rufus.

Rufus looked over at the hungry looking Shego and then Ron and held up a tiny thumb in Ron's direction. He then pulled back into his new home in the pouch and set about making himself at home.

"Damn Ron you look good in black." Shego nearly purred. "I know the only thing that will make those clothes look even better."

Ron frowned as he twisted his head trying to see his own clothing from all sides. "What?"

"When they are piled on the floor next to my bed." Shego said as she rose from her chair. "We're leaving now Doc." She called out to the other room.

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever. Make sure you lock the door behind you." Wolfgang's strained voice called out from behind the lab door. Ron and Shego could just make out Wolfgang's lowered voice behind the door calling out. "Oh mine beautiful Mantis."

Ron's eyes grew wide and he glanced over at Shego. "I don't know, and I don't want to know." She replied as they headed for the door.

"Easy for you to say. I was in that chair earlier. I feel like I need a shower now." Ron muttered.

Dr. Director watched as agents swarmed over the jail cells in the special wing and waited their report. Finally Will Du walked over and stood in attention in front of her.

"Report." She said after letting him stew for a moment.

"We can't find out how they escaped." Will admitted. "The cells show no signs of being forced and the elevator to this level shows no one came down it."

Dr. Director let out a sigh and marched over to the glass boxes that had recently held Shego, Ivy and Harley. "Have you had these surfaces fingerprinted yet?" She asked over her shoulder as she studied the glass.

"Um, what?" Agent Du asked intelligently.

"Fingerprinted as in dust them for fingerprints?"

"Why would we do that? Isn't it obvious that Shego, Quinn or Ivy somehow freed themselves from the cells and then released the others?"

Dr. Director slowly shook her head in disbelief. Was it any wonder that she preferred to rely on team Possible than her own troops as much as she could? At least they didn't overlook the obvious answers.

"Agent Du, how do you believe that Shego, Ivy or Quinn managed to open their cells from the inside with no visible signs of using force? And why would Shego free Quinn and Ivy when she threatened to kill them earlier?"

Du looked at the empty cells for a moment before talking into his wrist mic ordering a fingerprint team in.

Dr. Director waited patiently, well as patiently as she ever got for the team to finish their task after they finally showed up. At last an elderly man who used to work for the local police force walked over with a bag in his hands and several clear tape sheets. One sheet Dr. Director could see had a complete hand print on it and the other sheet had tiny little marks.

"We found this hand print on the outside of Shego's cell." The man said without preamble. He then held up the sheet with the tiny marks all over it. "And this one we lifted from the keypads. If I were to hazard a guess I would say it is the feet prints of some small trained animal, perhaps a small ferret?"

Dr. Director sadly shook her head. "No, I'm guessing they are the foot prints of a naked mole rat." Turning she looked over at Agent Du. "Du run that hand print down to records and compare it with the one we have on file for Ron Stoppable. Where there is a naked mole rat that can open cells, there is a strong chance Stoppable is nearby."

Kim woke with a slow dreamy stretch. So much of her life had been spent with a certain 'tension' and yesterday was the first time she had successfully resolved it. With her Ron and the mind control lipstick in her possession she could 'resolve her tensions' on a more even basis and it could only make her more perfect. Of course such actions would have to stop once she found her perfect male match but that was in the future. For now she could enjoy herself and keep her best friend with her, and keep him from wanting more in their relationship than she was willing to give and be happy. The first thing to do was to have Ron move back into their house so he could be on call as Kim's audience any time she wanted it.

Kim looked over to the chair she had left Ron sleeping in yesterday to tell him the great news and was shocked when she found said chair empty.

Kim wracked her memory. Did she remember to tell Ron to forget what he had witnessed yesterday? If she had that might explain why Ron was missing now. He woke up from his sleep and not having any 

memory he may have decided that Kim had taken care of him when he was injured and not wanting to intrude on her hospitality any longer had left while she was asleep. At least Kim hoped that was the reason he was gone. Surely if she had forgotten to give the memory clearing command Ron would have waited till she woke up to discuss with her what he had seen and heard? Yeah that must be it Kim decided, Ron had left after waking up with no memory on what she had done.

Pulling her clothes on Kim decided to check the house fully first. Ron might be in the kitchen cooking her something for breakfast or up in his old room. A quick check of both places revealed nothing however.

Kim hearing her cell phone going off Kim rushed back downstairs and after a brief search of her couch found the phone wedged between the seats. Ripping the phone open she pressed it to her ear and said hopefully. "Ron?"

"No Kim, it is your mother."

"Oh. Hey mom. What do you need?" Kim replied. A tiny tendril of fear ran down her spine. If she hadn't programmed Ron to forget and he left on his own, would he have called her mother and told her what he had seen?

"I was wondering if you could come over for dinner tonight?" Mrs. Possible calmly asked her daughter.

"Um, well I don't know mom, things have been kind of crazy lately…"

"I'm having an old friend of mine drop by from the hospital for dinner tonight and he would love to meet and talk to you." Anne Possible added.

"An old friend from the hospital?" Kim asked. Anne could practically smell the sudden suspicion in her daughter's voice over the phone.

"Yes, Dr. Philstein. You remember him don't you Kim?"

"Isn't he the head psychiatrist at the hospital?" Kim asked. That tingle of fear was getting stronger down her back.

"Why yes he is. He's doing a book on the mental psyche of heroes and great people and he was hoping to talk to you since you have saved the world almost single handedly a couple of times." Anne Possible replied as she mentally crossed her fingers.

"Oh? Well of course he would want to talk to me." Kim replied as she started to relax. Obviously Ron hadn't talked to her mother. "I'll show up if I can mom. Right now I'm trying to find Ron."

Anne Possible debated briefly on telling her daughter that she had talked to Ron and he left for a short time but she finally decided that doing so would only make her daughter more suspicious of the dinner and wouldn't do Ron who was trying to avoid her any favors. "Well you know Ron. He's probably at Bueno Nacho." She settled for saying. As soon as the words left her mouth she prayed that Ron hadn't decided to go there. It had been almost a full thirteen hours since she had spoke to Ron so where ever he was going he was bound to have left by now but you never knew.

Kim felt like slapping her head. "Of course. Bueno Nacho. Why didn't I think of that? Thanks mom, you are a genius."

Kim after a few more words hung up and started to get her car keys to go over to Bueno Nacho but she pulled to a stop at her front door. "What am I doing? Why am I wasting time searching for Ron like this when I have an easier method to find him?" Reaching into her purse she pulled out her Kimmunicator and noticed that once again she had powered the device down. Pressing the power button she waited a moment but before she could press the button to call Wade, his face appeared on the tiny screen.

"Kim." He practically growled at her.

"Yeah I know. I turned it off again. But I was doing something very important Wade and couldn't allow myself to be distracted at the time and then I took a much needed sleep. I was just going to call you though. Can you find Ron for me?"

"That'll have to wait Kim. Global Justice wants you to show up."

Kim sighed. "I don't feel like taking a freelance job at the moment. They haven't even paid me for the last one yet have they?"

"You failed to recover the Pan Dimensional Vortex Inducer Kim, why would they pay you for it?"

Kim shrugged as if it was no big deal.

"Besides the reason they are calling you is connected to that one in the first place. Shego, Quinn and Ivy have escaped from their containment cells."

Kim shrugged again as she started to exit her home.

"And… Ron is involved."

Kim froze for a moment. "Tell Dr. Director that I will be there as quick as I can."

As the elevator doors opened Dr. Director was prepared for Kim. While Kim was brilliant as an agent and Dr. Director wished the girl would join Global Justice full time she knew the young woman had a blind spot when it came to Ron Stoppable and she was prepared for the tempest about to be released upon her.

"What is this bullshit I hear that you are saying Ron freed Shego, Ivy and Quinn?" Kim started yelling as soon as she saw her.

Agent Du standing next to her, of course bristle in anger immediately. "We found physical proof it was Stoppable that had released them. Obviously Stoppable has allowed himself to be corrupted and has gone over to the Dark Side."

Kim stopped and looked at Du as if he was an idiot. "What are you 12 and just got out of a Star Wars marathon? Gone over to the Dark Side?" Kim laughed at him.

"Can you come up with another reason he would free three dangerous criminals?" Du said folding his arms across his chest as if he had proven something.

"Um, yeah, how about the fact that Ron was still under that Ivy woman's control? Your own medics said he was still slightly under the sway of Ivy's lipst… I mean her control. Obviously the woman gave Ron orders that if her, Quinn or Shego were captured that he had to come and rescue them."

"Like a post hypnotic suggestion." Dr. Director mused.

She had to admit she hadn't thought of that. Considering that Ivy had managed to get Stoppable to hit Kim and steal for her it wasn't that farfetched an idea.

"So Ron might once again be the unwilling hostage of Quinn and Ivy?" She thought out loud.

The more Dr. Director thought it over the better she liked the explanation. Stoppable had shown an almost obsessive loyalty to Kim and the thought he might have freed himself from it and willing chose to become a criminal was not one she was eager to embrace. Global Justice had kept tabs on Ron's development along with Kim's and they were fully aware of the Zorpox incident and a criminally minded Ron without the insane aspects of Zorpox was indeed a scary concept.

"We'll go with the assumption that Ronald maybe being controlled once again by Ivy and Quinn but will still leak a news story with his photo along with Quinn, Ivy and Shego so the public can be on the lookout for him." Dr. Director raised her hand to forestall Kim's objections. "It is for his own good. If he is innocent and is being controlled then Global Justice will extradite him from any legal problems if or when the local police bring him in."

"Did you ever find out how Ivy was controlling him in the first place?" Kim asked casually.

"No. Ivy refused to answer any of our questions and Quinn merely replied with puns and gibberish. I decided to lock them down here for a few days without food or water to see if that would loosen their or Shego's tongue but Ron showed up and helped them to escape before we could carry that plan out."

"Well I'm sure Ron is innocent but Shego might have thrown her lot in willing with Ivy and Quinn." Kim stated with a scowl.

"Tell me again why we are messing around one of Drakken's old destroyed lairs?" Ron quietly asked her as he ghosted along by her side. For someone she had always considered to be a slightly clumsy sidekick, Shego was impressed on how stealthy Ron could move when he wanted to. In his new black form fitting clothing Shego almost became distracted herself and lose her footing on the rubble they were crossing.

"After your tracker is found to be missing, Kim will most likely contact Global Justice, if they haven't contacted her yet already and they will throw out a dragnet to all bus, train and airlines looking for us to leave Middletown. The best place to hide until they stop searching so diligently is somewhere they will never think to look for us."

"Hence one of Drakken's old destroyed lairs. But how are we to lay low in a pile of rubble? This place was totally destroyed a long time ago when I pressed the self destruct button on one of Kim and my missions." Ron asked as Shego finally found a small hole leading into the wrecked lair and started to slither into it.

"I know something that you and Kimmie never knew. Drakken is a tight wad cheapskate. He made sure to use good explosives in the main labs of his lairs but never bothered with the living areas. I'm pretty sure once we get past the front entrance we'll find most of the damage is restricted to the lab area and the habitat areas are still there. Global Justice was also so cheap as well to never bother to excavate the ruined lairs figuring the apparent destruction on top meant everything was destroyed underneath." Shego said over her shoulder as she continued to burrow into the devastated lair with Ron following right along behind her. Finally the wreckage suddenly ended and Shego and Ron found themselves in one of the old corridors of the lair and the damage was fairly minor.

"I knew it!" Shego proudly smiled. "I bet the generators for the habitat rings are still serviceable too. Sure the main labs power would be destroyed but there were backup generators for the living areas."

"If the kitchen area is still standing I can see about fixing us something to eat as well." Ron stated as his stomach grumbled.

"The perishable foods would have long ago spoiled Ron."

"Yeah but Drakken was always about the cookies I remember." Ron said. "And baking stuff like flour and dry ingredients don't spoil as long as their containers are airtight."

Shego who had been leading their way in the underground corridor using her glow to light the way turned to look back at Ron. "Brains and beauty? You will make a very good criminal partner."

She decided not to make an issue of it now when she noticed Ron's frown but the more Shego thought about it the more she wanted Ron to willingly become her criminal partner. She had meant it when she told Ron earlier at Wolfgang's that she didn't care if he didn't help her with crimes as long as he didn't lecture her or try to change her but now she was reconsidering. Shego was tired of taking orders from Drakken with his hair brained schemes to take over the world that never worked. And really what would she do with the world if she could take it over? No she would be happy if Ron and her could become the most notorious criminal duo to ever be known on this planet and someday retire richer than the Señor Senior, Seniors to a small private island somewhere.

Finding the power section which was in fairly good shape Shego quickly made repairs and kicked the generator into gear and soon light flooded the tunnels. After a quick crawl outside to make sure that the lights were not visible outside Shego was pleased with her and Ron's hidey hole. Making her way back into the ruined lair she found Ron in the kitchen area that had suffered a little damage but still looked to be serviceable. Ron was holding a box of index cards and was rapidly sorting through them.

"I can't understand why Doctor D wants to be ruler of the world when he collects so many cookie recipes. It's like he is some kind of frustrate baker."

Shego shrugged and almost purred in glee when she spotted on the dusty table in the room an old nail file of hers. Grabbing it up she pulled one of the overturned chairs up, sat down and started filing her nails.

"And all these recipes for coco moo?" Ron asked.

Shego rolled her eyes. "He was forever going on about his coco moo. I can't see what he saw in that stuff."

"Well considering most these recipes are for coco moo with alcohol…"

Shego blinked. "You're kidding?"

Ron flipped through the cards. "Coco moo with vodka. Coco moo with gin. Coco moo with rum. They go on like that."

Shego looked dumbstruck. "And he always drank coco moo when coming up with those lame plans of his. All this freakin time I spent with him and his half baked plans was because he was secretly smashed on coco moo laced with booze?!"

Ron looked at her and after a moment he started chuckling.

"It's not funny damn it!" Shego growled but then started snickering herself before finally giving into laughing.

After a hasty meal of biscuits and honey, one of the few things Ron could make with the dry goods that weren't damage in the original explosion that destroyed the lair, Shego suggested they go to bed. They had been up all night long and both were exhausted, but not too exhausted as far as Shego was concerned for some of the activities she planned on doing with Ron once she got him into her old bedroom.

Ron started to open his mouth to ask where he was going to bed down at but wasn't given a choice as Shego grabbed a hold of his shirt and pulled him towards her old room in the lair.

Opening the door Shego didn't bother to turn on the light but dragged Ron towards her bed. Shego knew the lair's layout like the back of her hand and Drakken always used the same layout in any case.

Throwing Ron to the bed Shego climbed on top of him and started to kiss him senseless. They were both starting to get into it when the tiniest of coughs alerted them that they might not be alone in the room. Rufus had decided upon seeing the way Shego was staring at Ron in the kitchen area to remain behind on the table top to sleep so they knew it couldn't be him.

With Shego still on top of Ron she sat up and held up in the air one of her hands and caused her glow to flare up lighting the room.

There lying on the bed next to them was Harley Quinn still in her gray prison clothing. A few feet away sitting at a chair at Shego's old vanity table was Ivy also still dressed in the drab grays.

Ron without thought reached up and caught Shego's fist in the air just below her glow and prevented her from flinging a fireball at Harley.

"Hi Blackie. Ronnie. Fancy meeting you here." Harley called out cheerfully.

AAA

Author's note:

AAA

Okay I will admit defeat and ask for help. How do you format documents for this place? I've tried to use page breaks and that seemed to work for a while but then they started stripping those out.

Extra line returns are stripped out and even re-editing on site and using shift + enter doesn't work for me, they still strip out the extra spaces. I like to use blank lines as a indication of scene changes and with it stripping them out it makes all my text ram together making my scene changes look abrupt and confusing.

I suppose I could use text symbols as place holders like I do for my author's notes but that seems jarring and inelegant way of doing it to me. Obviously I am missing something when it comes to formatting for this site.


	6. Chapter 6

Partners in Crime

By Weirdbard

Chapter 6

"What the hell are you doing here?" Shego roared. "I told you and Ivy to go downtown while we went uptown, didn't I?"

"Gee, hi to you too Blackie. You seem way too tense. You need to relax more." Harley replied propping herself up on one elbow.

Shego's voice dropped to a low growl. "What do you think I was trying to do before I found you in my room and in my bed?!"

"This is your room? Cool." Harley said with a delighted grin and leapt up off the bed to examine the room in the glow of Shego's still lit hand. Even though Ron was desperately trying to keep Shego from killing Harley until they found out how they found the destroyed lair and also trying to ignore the way Shego in her anger was twisting and grinding her hips around on top of him as she moved to keep both Ivy and Harley in view, he still couldn't help but look around curiously as well. All the times he and Kim had stopped one of Drakken and Shego's plots and ended up inside one of their lairs, he had never seen Shego's room before and he couldn't help but look for a few clues on Shego's innermost personality.

Finally not satisfied with the sights she could see by the glow of Shego's lit hand which she continued to ignore, Harley finally found the light switch near the door and clicked it on. Instead of harsh white light that Ron had expected, a muted glow lit up the room and Ron realized that the ceiling light in Shego's room was recessed into the walls and instead of glaring down on them instead casted a pleasant glow on the curved ceiling providing plenty of light to see by but still managing to keep the underground room from feeling like a tomb.

The room had light green walls with a slightly darker green ceiling and twisting his head to the side Ron could just make out a black carpet on the floor. The room was sadly lacking in decorations though. A plain sparse room only made for sleeping in. Ron did notice a vanity table on one wall that had a large mirror and a few personal items sitting on top of it. Items like a comb, a bottle of perfume, etc. Ron's eyes grew wide when he noticed that Harley had picked up off the vanity table a dark green and black cuddlebuddy of a too adorable mouse / fox combination. He glanced back up at Shego sitting on him to 

see that she had stopped glaring at Ivy and was now looking back down at him. Shego looked over to see what Harley was doing and her eyes went large and she looked back down at him. "Not a word Ron about my Foxy Moxy. Not a word."

Ron nodded but he couldn't help a grin and a moment later. "I never knew they made any cuddlebuddies with black and green color scheme. Foxy Moxy suits you."

Shego glared down at him. "You know you are in a very vulnerable position to make jokes at my expense. You don't start behaving I'm going to turn you over and spank you."

Ron licked suddenly very dry lips and even though a part of him was screaming not to, he still said. "That sounds like it could be fun too."

"Ooh. Can we watch?" Harley's voice called out from the side of the bed. Ron and Shego turned their heads and found the blond was standing inches away clutching Shego's stuffed animal to her chest with a wide smile on her face.

"NO." Ron, Shego and Ivy's voice called out at the same time.

"And get your hands off my Foxy Moxy!" Shego added a moment later.

"But Blackie I'm not even touching you…" Harley said with an innocent look on her face, which was ruined by the slight twitching of the corner of her lips as she tried not to smirk.

"I meant the cuddlebuddy." Shego gritted out.

Ron in hopes of saving Shego's teeth, which he feared were going to crack from the way she was grinding them, sent a disapproving glance at Harley.

"Harley stop playing the fool and put Shego's stuffed animal down and tell us how you and Ivy ended up here."

"You can already tell it's an act?" Ivy's cool voice reminded everyone she was still in the room as well.

Shego looked over at her. "Ron almost made a career out of playing the buffoon to get enemies to underestimate him."

Harley instantly dropped her antics and quietly replaced the cuddlebuddy where it belonged. "Well damn." She finally said. "I was hoping to keep you two at least guessing for a while longer at least." She then sat down on the very edge of the bed.

"Don't pout Harely. There is still an entire world out there that doesn't know your ditzy performance is mostly an act." Ivy comforted her.

"Yeah I guess… Wait a minute. Whatta mean 'mostly'?" Harley replied sending a mock glare at Ivy.

Shego became once again aware of how monumental intimate a moment Ivy and Harley had broken up between her and Ron when she felt him start to vibrate underneath her as he tried to hold back laughter at Ivy and Harley's interactions. This drew Shego's attention to a very sizable bulge she was riding on top of. Sliding her leg off of him she made sure her hand slid down his chest and briefly cupped the mound in his tight leather pants as she climbed off of him. She could feel the laughter he was trying to suppress stop instantly and his eyes grew large. "We are so going to get back to this and soon Ronnie so don't think we aren't." She purred whispered to him as she lowered her head down to his ear and gave it a brief lick before rolling over on her back to lie on the bed next to him. Propping herself up on her elbows she then looked to Ivy. "Okay so go ahead and tell us how you just happened to end up here?"

Ivy gave a slight shrug. "The downtown area you directed us to is notably lacking in abandoned warehouses or empty stores."

Shego glanced over in confusion at Ron and was pleased to see he wasn't following either.

"Ya see that is how we do things in Gotham. The city and I guess the dimension we came from." Harely stated taking over the explanation from Ivy. "We escape from Arkham and find an abandoned warehouse or store that fits our personalities. For instance when I was with Mr. J. we would find an abandoned standup comedy nightclub or a playing card factory. Mr. Freeze would always pick an ice cream factory or cold storage locker and Ivy over there would pick an abandoned florist shop. It's just how we do things."

Ron had no idea who these people Harley was so casually throwing their names out were but he deduced rightly that they were criminals back in that Gotham dimension like Harley and Ivy were and the places she mentioned showed some aspect of their personalities. "Um, didn't that make it very easy for the police in your dimension to know where to find you? I mean if you always go for the same places for lairs, didn't the police figure this out after a while? I mean I never figured Dr. D. was all that smart but at least he knew to mix up now and then and keep Kim and me guessing where his latest lair was."

Harley just shrugged. "It was just all part of the game."

"That and the police in our dimension were completely incompetent. The one that usually caught us and sent us back to Arkham was Batman." Ivy added.

"Batman? " Ron asked.

Ivy made a sour face. "A costume vigilante do-gooder in Gotham, whenever poor Harley and I would go out on the town for a bit of fun he would show up out of nowhere and throw us back in Arkham.

"Sounds a little like the Fearless Ferret." Ron mused.

"Ferret?" Harley asked and started to giggle. "That sounds silly to be captured by a ferret."

"Oh and getting caught by someone named Batman isn't?" Shego asked. "I mean it sounds like you were caught by a Dracula wannabe with a cape."

Harley and Ivy shared a glance.

"You don't mean he actually wears a cape?" Ron asked.

"Um, yeah?" Harley said.

Both Ron and Shego started laughing both conveniently forgetting they once went through a cape period in their pasts as well.

"Hey! Bats is tough! He could take both of you in." Harley felt odd being put in a position to defend Batman.

"Oh right." Shego snickered. "While he's posing in the moonlight with his cape I would fry his ass with one of my fireballs."

"Mr. Freeze that Harley mentioned early is capable of freezing people and objects in a solid block of ice. Batman always found a way to capture him and bring him in." Ivy calmly stated.

Ron seemed impressed. "He could freeze things solid?"

"Well it wasn't a power like what Shego seems to have. He has a cryogenic gun he uses but yeah, I've seen Freeze almost succeed in putting all of Gotham into the ice age more than once." Ivy explained.

"How did this Batman stop people like Freeze then?" Shego asked, interested in spite of herself.

"Oh Bats has all sorts of toys he uses." Harley was quick to supply. "Grappling guns, batarangs, big fancy black car, boats, planes. There seemed like there was no end to the gadgets and equipment he would spring on us. Once against Bane he even used a robotic battle suit."

"Still sounds a bit like the Fearless Ferret." Ron stated. "The Fearless Ferret is a fictional TV character by the way, a rich socialite who has a hidden cave under his house and rides out at night to fight evildoers. We don't have any real costume vigilantes like that in this world."

"No, just a used to be cheerleader and her sidekick that was a pain in the ass and Global Justice a secret police organization, which of course you have already run afoul of." Shego said with a slight grin.

"Hey I wasn't a pain in the ass. I was just the distraction. Kim did all the work." Ron said sitting up in bed and pulling himself back against the headboard.

Shego snorted. "Think about it for a moment Ron. What did Kim do, at least in the battles with me and Drakken?"

"Kim would get us into the lair and then fight you." Ron said promptly.

"And who was it that always destroyed the lair, the super weapon or messed up the countdowns?"

"Well, Rufus and I but still…"

"Still nothing Ron, Kim was the distraction. She kept me busy while you could stop Drakken. Face it Ron, you were the effective one while Kim was just the 'muscle' to keep me busy." Shego said with a grin.

Ron couldn't help it, he chuckled slightly. "Ooh if Kim could hear you say that. She would blow a gasket big time."

"Then I'll have to tell her the next time I see her. And point out what an idiot she was to throw you away and how lucky I was to swoop you up."

Ron's grin faded a bit being reminded of Kim and her ego problem and the path his life was going on and if he was doing the 'right' thing or even if life was meant to be lived 'rightly' or was it just meant to be lived?

He was distracted however when Harley looked over at Ivy and said. "Hey Red? Do you think Ronnie is on to something? Could Bats be one of those rich fat cats of Gotham?"

Ivy considered for a moment but shrugged. "You know Harley that who the Bats is has been a heated topic in the underworld of Gotham for years but no one has ever figured it out."

"Shouldn't be too hard to figure it out." Ron said letting his mind think it over. "I mean he would have to have money to pay for all the equipment you said he uses, right?"

Harley after a moment nodded her head.

"Okay so he's one of the rich, if not the richest person in this Gotham of yours. He is also fit I take it?"

Ivy this time was the one to nod her head with just the tiniest of smiles.

"And if he has a secret cavern or something for all his equipment, his house would have to be separated from others but still close enough to Gotham, right?"

"So how many rich people are there in Gotham that meets all this? Rich, physically fit, reasonably intelligent, house on an estate away from others but for all his money isn't seen out much at nights or at social events, especially when criminals are on the loose?" Ron asked reasonably.

Harley and Ivy shared a look and both their mouths dropped a bit. "Bruce Wayne?" Ivy asked in surprise.

Harley shook her head. "It couldn't be him. Remember we once kidnapped him to go on that Christmas shopping spree that one year. Bats rescued him after we threw him down an elevator shaft."

Ron only looked slightly taken back to hear Harley casually mention that she and Ivy had once tried to kill a man by throwing them down an elevator shaft. Perhaps it was the company he was keeping now or the fact he was just too tired to be shocked. "Maybe this Wayne guy of yours had his batsuit hidden nearby and after you threw him in the elevator he escaped and changed into it?"

Ivy frowned. "Now that you mention it, Batman said he rescued Wayne and put him somewhere safe but there was hardly any time between Wayne being gone and Batman showing up. I mean where could Batman have stashed Wayne and come back to fight us that we wouldn't have stumbled over Wayne in the resulting fight?"

Harley was now looking thoughtful. "And the quickest way to get Batman on your tail was to attack one of Bruce Wayne's businesses… Oh my god Ivy I think Ronnie just figure out who Batman is!" Harley squealed. "Think of what we could all do if we could get back to Gotham with this information." Harley looked over at Shego and Ron lying on the bed. "And with them with us? We could take over Gotham!"

"Or we could just stay here and take over this place." Ivy replied. "Why risk Batman when we can run this place?"

Harley clapped her hands. "The four of us. What fun we can have! We'll be like the four mouseketeers!"

"That's musketeers Harley, and there were only three of them." Ivy corrected her.

"Um, okay. We'll be like the four horsemen. I like ponies. Instead of Death, War, Famine and Plague, we'll be Plant, Laughter, Fire and…" Harley looked over at Ron and wetted her lips. "Stud."

"Wait! Wait! I work alone!" Shego growled then looking over at Ron she amended. "Or with Ron but I'm not looking to join a group!"

Harley leaned over Ron's body to smirk at her. "Are you sure? Groups can be really fun too. In many ways…" Harley allowed one of her hands to rest lightly on Ron's leg.

"That's it! Out! Get out right now!" Shego growled as she relit her hands with plasma.

Harley pulled away. "Awww don't be that way. Where are we to go? We don't know this town!"

A low rumble that was felt and heard even as deep underground as they were and Harley glanced at the ceiling of the room. "And to top it off it sounds like it is starting to storm up above. You wouldn't throw two ladies like me and Ivy out in to a raging storm would you?"

Shego opened her mouth to reply that they were no ladies and hell yes she could throw them out into a storm but was prevented when Ron answered. "Drakken hired a lot of henchmen back when this lair was in use. There are other rooms you and Ivy can stay in for tonight. And if you are hungry there is a kitchen area with some left over biscuits and honey to eat."

Harley looked like she was going to argue that she was quite comfortable where she was at, but Ivy rose to her feet and started for the door. "Come on Harley."

"We're not leaving this hideout are we Red?" Harley asked in a pout.

"No. We'll get something to eat and take Ron's advice and find another room to sleep in."

As the door closed Shego turned on her side to glare at Ron. "Why didn't you let me throw them out?"

"Think about it Shego. They don't know Middletown and if we sent them off the way they are now in prison grays they would be picked up in no time by Global Justice and what is the first thing Global Justice would try to get out of them."

"Where they had been hiding and if they broke and told them it would lead Global Justice back to this lair." Shego sighed. "All right Ron I agree they can stay tonight till we can locate another lair they can't reveal to Global but I don't like the way Harley keeps looking at you!"

Ron looked at her in surprise. "Are you jealous?" He asked.

Shego frowned. "I prefer to think of it as looking after what is mine oh Stud of the Apocalypse."

"Come on Shego, Harley is so into Ivy it's not funny. She's not going to try anything with me that might anger Ivy. She just likes to annoy you."

Shego pinned Ron with a look. "Ron you are so naïve when it comes to women. Just because Harley is in love with Ivy doesn't mean she can't be attracted to you as well. You never heard of bi-sexual? And what if Ivy decided it might be fun to join in a group activity as well? For all her talk she strikes me as a woman who has 'pitch-hitted' for the other side a few times as well." Shego asked with a raised eyebrow.

Ron frowned. "Ivy plays baseball?" He asked.

Shego felt her eyebrow twitch in annoyance when she noticed the hint of a sparkle in Ron's eyes and knew instantly he was deliberately trying to play dumb to throw her off track.

Finally Ron dropped the act and laughed. "Oh like that is so going to happen." Seeing Shego continue to frown at him Ron decided he better start soothing her feelings or he might have to find somewhere else to sleep this night as well. "Look Shego, while I will admit that Ivy and Harley are kind of attractive and I maybe a guy and as such I've daydreamed a time or two about orgies with lots of women but in reality that is just not going to happen. If I agree that I won't get involved in any 'group activities' without your permission can we let this go for tonight?"

Shego thought about it for a moment and finally nodded her head. Ron slid back down on the bed till he was lying flat on his back. Shego watched his profile for a moment. "So you've had fantasies about orgies have you?" She purred. "Why don't you tell me some of those fantasies and I'll tell you mine?" Ron didn't answer her. Shego eyes narrowed as she noticed his eyes were shut and his breathing was deep and relaxed. "You better not have fallen asleep on me Stoppable." She growled.

Ron's reply was a soft snore. Shego frowned but then with a shrug she pulled close to his side and resting her head on his chest she allowed herself to give into the exhaustion she was feeling as well and was asleep instantly.

"So Red." Harley started as the two of them explored the lair looking for the kitchen and keeping an eye out for a spare room to sleep in. "What do you think of Ron? I mean I never really did get a chance to ask you."

Ivy watched Harley out of the corner of her eye. "What are you thinking about Harley?" She asked with a warning note in her voice.

"I was just thinking the kid has potential is all. I mean look how he analyzed who Batman must be while the rest of us never put two and two together before. We know he can cook and those moves he made when we first met him, I bet he's a good fighter." Under her breath she added. "And he looks pretty damn good in leather."

"We still don't know if he was right about Bruce Wayne being Batman or not." Ivy pointed out. "And it wasn't so long ago that Ron was on the right side of the law Harley."

"All the more reason that we should help Shego make Ron realize that he would make a good criminal." Harley added quickly.

Ivy stopped and turned to look at her lover and companion. "What is this really about Harley? Are you wanting to get him into the sack is that it? Am I not enough for you anymore?"

Harley instantly wrapped Ivy in a hug. "No Red! I love you. I was just thinking it might be fun…" She could feel Ivy stiffen in her embrace. "Look I should be the one jealous, after all you have kissed Ron several times!"

"You know those kisses meant nothing to me. They were just ways to control him."

"So he's a lousy kisser?" Harley asked curiously.

Ivy shrugged slightly. "I've had worse." Ivy shook her head to clear it of the brief tangent it was starting to go on. "Look Harley are you forgetting that Shego seems to have staked her claim? You keep pushing her buttons she is going to start throwing that green fire of hers around and someone is going to get burnt."

Harley giggled. "I like pushing her buttons." Harley allowed her hands to roam over Ivy's back. "And I think you wouldn't mind pushing a few of her 'buttons' either. Or am I wrong? I've seen the few looks you have shot her when she wasn't paying attention and the way you enjoy taunting and teasing her."

"I have not!" Ivy protested.

"No? So a raven haired beauty with fire, literally in her case, and highly aggressive doesn't turn you on in the slightest?" Harley asked pulling back to look at Ivy in the face.

The usually cool and collected woman started to blush and her eyes slid away from meeting Harley's.

"Maybe I should be the one to start getting jealous?" Harley asked but in a playful tone.

"You are not going to make me feel guilty about a few stray thoughts when you are the one that started this." Ivy told her flatly. "Now what is this about really?"

Harley grew serious. "It's just that we don't know this world Ivy and I have no desire to go back to those glass boxes that Global Justice thing put us in. It nearly killed me watching you languish in the gloom. We could use Ron and Shego's guidance at least until we know our way around here." Harley allowed a smirk to creep its way back onto her face. "And if working together was to lead to a bit of physical fun too? What harm could there be in that?"

Ivy remained standing still and allowed Harley to move slightly ahead of her in the corridor. "You like to play dangerously Harley." She said.

"And that is what you love about me Red." Harley replied flashing a smile over her shoulder at her and putting just a tiny bit more sway to her behind.

Ivy watched Harley for a moment until the young woman was almost around a corner of the corridor. "This is true." Ivy admitted to heself and then raced to catch back up to her lover.

"Wade what do you mean you can't find Ron at this time?" Kim growled into her Kimmunicator.

"I told you Kim that satellite I was using has moved out of position now." Wade calmly tried to explain once again.

"Well find another satellite to use!" Kim ordered while Dr. Director a few feet away watched.

"Kim." Wade replied in an attempt to remain calm. "While there is a ridiculously large amount of satellites up there from various countries, there just isn't one in the right position at this time. I mean it's not like I can use any satellite! They have to have the proper equipment on board for me to program to find Ron's chip."

Dr. Director stepped next to Kim allowing her image to be seen by Wade. Wade's normal dark complexion paled several degrees. "Not like I hijack satellites from other countries or anything like that anyway because of course that would be highly against the law."

Dr Director resisted the urge to roll her one good eye. "Of course not Wade, I know you wouldn't break the law but if I were to give you the coordinates of a satellite and the frequency to use, could you make use of that?"

"I sincerely doubt that you know of a satellite in space that I don't." Wade replied confidently but then looked nervous again. "Not that I track them or know anything about hacking into them of course."

"Right." Dr. Director replied dryly. "The satellite in question is a stealth one developed by Global Justice and while you maybe brilliant Wade, we've been in business a while and know a few tricks of our own. Just answer my question. If I give you the coordinates and the frequency of the satellite can you use it to track Ronald?"

"Yes maam." Wade replied.

Kim in annoyance at being ignored watched as Dr. Director rattled off a series of numbers from memory and Wade's high speed clacking as he typed on his computer. "I'm in." Wade replied after a moment.

Dr. Director frowned as she had given Wade the location and the frequency of the satellites control system but not its security clearance codes, before she could do that Wade had already broken them. She would have to have a word with her computer section about improving their anti-hacking programming soon, either that or obtain Wade's abilities either by hiring him or having him brought in as a security risk and forcing him to work for her. One way or another Wade was getting to be too good to remain freelance much longer.

"Um, I can't find Ron." Wade admitted after a few moments.

"He's left Middletown?" Kim asked.

"Um, I don't know." Wade reluctantly admitted. "I don't seem to be getting a signal from my tracking chip at all. I'm expanding my search now but I don't see how Ron could have gotten out of range this 

fast. Even if he caught a plane as soon as he helped Shego, Harley and Ivy escape… he should still be in range of this satellite."

"Could he have had the chip removed?" Dr. Director asked.

Wade looked thoughtful. "It would take some pretty high tech equipment to remove the chip. Without harming Ron I mean."

"Removing the chip could harm Ron?" Kim asked. "You never mentioned anything about the chip could harm Ron Wade!"

"The chip would have to be located and removed suddenly to keep it from avoiding the removal." Wade replied distractedly as he continued to type on his keyboard. "Normal hospitals or doctors couldn't do that."

"Could Drakken do it?" Dr. Director asked.

Wade looked up from his keyboards. "Um, well maybe. I'm not sure. I mean his schemes usually fall apart fairly easily but he does do pretty good either making tech or finding someone and stealing it from them. I suppose he could have cobbled together enough equipment to at least attempt it."

Dr. Director nodded her head. "Then until we find any better leads we'll look for Drakken as well as Harley Quinn and the rest. Somehow I have the feeling he'll be easier to find."


	7. Chapter 7

Partners in Crime

By Weirdbard

Chapter 7

Dr Drakken hummed to himself as he removed a piping hot tray of peanut butter stickies out of the oven in his time share lair and looked for place to sit the cookies down to cool. The lair was piled high with various boxes only some of which belonged to Drakken while the rest belonged to the other villains that rented the time share lair with him. Not finding a ready surface to sit the cookies down on Drakken frowned. He was wearing floral patterned oven mitts and an apron that said, "Cookies are good but I'm in it for the dough." It wasn't one of Drakken's favorite aprons, his favorite had said, "Kiss the baker, he tastes like chocolate." But Shego had disliked that one so much she had set fire to it one day, while Drakken had still been wearing it.

Hearing a buzzing noise coming from the front door of the lair, Drakken took one more look around to find a place to set the cookie sheet but finding nothing he gave a shrug and carried the cookies with him. Pushing the button to slide the door open he expected to find Shego had returned to him. So it was with a touch of surprise when the door slid open to reveal Agent Will Du and a force of Global Justice agents standing there.

Dr. Drakken blinked a few times at the agents before saying. "I gave at the office." And before they could react, he pressed the button sliding and locking the door shut again.

As the agents outside pounded on the door, Drakken threw the cookie sheet and its contents to the side and raced towards the rear exit of the lair. As he went he tried to pull off the apron but found he had once again tied the ties on it too tight and with the oven mitts covering his hands he couldn't get it to let go. Still struggling with the apron, he hit the button to the rear exit with his elbow.

As the rear door to the lair slid open Drakken had finally realized that if he removed the oven mitts he might have an easier time getting the apron off. Tugging the oven mitts off he tossed them to the side and started to bolt out the exit when he noticed it was blocked by Kim Possible and a woman with a patch over one eye.

"Kim Possible!" Drakken shouted but then peered at the other person with her. "Excuse me but do I know you?" He asked.

Dr. Director cocked her head at the supposed mad genius. "Dr. Director. I've only locked you and Shego up over a dozen times when Kim brings you in. How could you not know my name by now?"

Drakken peered at her for a moment. "Nope, your face doesn't ring any bells. You wouldn't be by chance related to the buffoon that is usually with Possible?"

Dr. Director's one good eye narrowed in annoyance at him. "No. I am not related to Ron Stoppable."

Any further questions Drakken might have asked was halted when Kim in a very atypical manner for her, lunged forward and gather the front of his apron in her fist and forced him back till he slammed into the still hot oven behind him. "Speaking of Ron… Where is he and Shego?" She growled at him.

Drakken struggled to move away from the hot oven and replied. "How should I know where that buffoon has gotten to? As for Shego I haven't seen her since that break in you thwarted a few days ago. I assume she was lying low till she could return to my lair unseen."

Kim tightened her hold on Drakken's apron as if she suspected he was lying to her.

"Where would Shego go if she were injured in some way?" Dr. Director asked.

Drakken frowned. "She would return to me of course. Unless for some reason she couldn't find me or get to me, in which case she would find some hole to hide in and take care of herself, if the wounds were not too major."

"And what would she do if she required major surgery and couldn't get back to you for some reason?" Dr. Director continued her line of questioning.

Drakken seemed to be thinking it over but instead of answering her he took a deep sniff and asked. "Do you smell something burning?"

"Kim let Drakken move away from the oven. His lab coat is melting." Dr. Director ordered.

Kim pulled Drakken and threw him into some boxes near the rear exit. Drakken remained sitting where he had been thrown by Kim and looked at her in surprise. "What is her problem anyway?"

"The question Drakken? Where would Shego go or take someone who was injured and she couldn't take care of it herself?"

Drakken slowly started to shake his head to signal he didn't have any idea but suddenly stopped. "I suppose she might go to that butcher. She used him a few times before she came into my employ."

"Butcher?" Kim asked.

"Wolfgang Amadeus Mozenberg. He has a reputation for helping the criminal element."

Dr. Director rubbed her chin. "I've heard of him. He was thrown out of a German University for doing unauthorized experiments on students wasn't he?"

Drakken frowned in disgust. "Yes. He gives us respectable scientists a bad name."

Kim snorted.

Drakken chose to ignore her. "I heard he went into a medical practice here to help fund his unorthodox hobbies."

"Do you know where we can find him?" Kim nearly growled at him.

"Why should I help you anyway?" Drakken asked as he finally stood up from the crush of boxes he had been sitting on.

"How about to avoid jail time?" Dr. Director supplied.

"For what? If you recall I didn't even manage to steal the pan dimensional vortex inducer. It was stolen from me by those two strange women that showed up and since I didn't manage to steal it, what charges are you going to bring against me?"

"You and Shego did break into a government research laboratory. Breaking and entering will still get you a few years in jail and once we get you into a cell I'm sure we can find more reasons to hold you." Dr Director told him.

Drakken grumbled but did reach into a pocket of his lab coat and pull out a note card and scribble an address down. "Fine, this is the last address I have on him. I wouldn't have this but Shego once got hit by one of my exploding experiments and that time she wouldn't let me remove the fragments myself but made me take her to Wolfgang."

The front door to the lair finally gave way to the pounding of the global justice agents and Will Du gestured them back so he could stride into the room as if he owned it. His grand commanding entrance was ruined however as he slipped on a peanut butter stickie cookie lying on the floor and he slide a few feet to finally lose his balance and land flat on his back.

Drakken, Kim and Dr. Director just looked at him as he rose to his feet and began brushing himself off.

"Oh fine, there goes my last batch of cookies as well. Do you know how hard it is to buy ingredients in a store when your skin is blue? Either I'm recognized by adults as being a known criminal or having little kids walk up to me and say. "Hi papa Smurf, where is smurfette?" I swear as soon as I become ruler of the world my first task will be to have that cartoon banned and all copies destroyed." Drakken complained.

"I should take you in right now." Dr. Director replied. "But I have bigger problems at the moment. Keep your nose clean Drakken or we will be back."

"Yeah, yeah. Who is going to pay for that front door? They'll take it out of my security deposit you know!" Drakken yelled after them as the group left via the destroyed front door. Kim being the last one out turned and shot a look at him that nearly had the mad scientist shaking in his boots.

"Wonder what her problem is? Must be that time of month for her." Drakken mumbled and then instinctively looked around to see if Shego was nearby. The last time he had made such a statement after accusing Shego of being moody he nearly had his hide burned off by her. Where was that woman anyway?

As Shego slowly stirred from deep sleep, it was with the thought that she couldn't remember sleeping so well in a very long time. Her sleep fogged brain tried to figure out what she had done differently that allowed her to get such a peaceful rest and vow to keep doing it. Right before she opened her eyes she could hear the steady thump thump of a heart under her ear. Already starting to smile she opened her eyes to see Ron lying underneath her. Shego idly noted that neither of them had shut off the lights to her room before they had passed out.

"Oh yeah, now I remember. Having someone to sleep and cuddle with is what let me sleep so well." She muttered out loud. Course she would have preferred for her good sleep to have been the result of some good vigorous physical activity before having gone to sleep but Ron had fallen asleep on her before she could initiate it. Shego almost frowned but then with a wicked grin she thought to herself what was to stop them from having that vigorous activity now? Really good sex was better when both partners were well rested anyway.

In any case, the first order of business was to get Ron up both from sleep and in other ways. Moving slowly Shego crawled up the bed until her mouth was next to Ron's ear.

"Ronnie." She purred trying to wake him.

Ron however continued to sleep onward, but he did start to slowly smile in his sleep.

"Guess who this is?" Shego said in a playful voice and then licked the edge of his ear.

"_And if you say Kim I may have to hurt you."_ She thought to herself.

Ron's grin grew larger but he still refused to give up his hold on sleep.

"Come on Ronnie, I want to play." Shego stated out loud and licked his ear again.

"Give me five more minutes Bonnie, Mad Dog is tired." Ron finally muttered.

Shego frowned in annoyance. While she was pleased it wasn't Kim's name on Ron's lips it still didn't thrill her that he thought she was some other horny cheerleader. "Ron wake up." Shego said flatly in her normal voice.

Ron frowned and without opening his eyes he said. "Shego?"

Shego raised herself on her elbows a little so she could look down at the reclined Ron. "That's right. You disappointed it isn't some little randy cheerleader?"

Shego almost let out a shriek of surprise as Ron suddenly jerked his right arm up and wrapped it around her waist and flipped over in the bed and she found herself now lying flat on her back in the bed with Ron poised over her. Shego swallowed as she saw the hungry looks Ron was giving her. "Not me. I prefer a villain Goddess over a mere cheerleader any day of the week."

Shego grinned up at him. "Trying to be the dominant one in this relationship?" She asked playfully before wrapping one of her legs around his and flipping them again so Ron was back under her. Before he could do another wrestling reversal on her, she quickly pulled her knees up so she was sitting on his waist with her hands holding his arms down on the bed.

"Who me?" Ron asked with an almost convincing innocent look on his face. "Not at all, I don't mind being the submissive one… As long as we take turns."

Shego seemed to ponder for a moment. "I make no promises."

"Not even if I promise to be gentle when I spank you when it is your turn to be the submissive one?" Ron asked.

Shego's eyebrow rose at that. "Oh aren't we the bold one? What makes you think I would let anyone spank me?"

"Because you are a bad girl and all bad girls are secretly waiting for someone to come along with a firm hand and punish them." Ron said dropping his voice an almost low purr.

Shego in spite of herself felt her face flush and a pool of heat develop at her center.

"_Damn." _ She thought to herself. _"Ron is really proving to be quite good at seduction."_

"And are all goody two shoes just waiting for a bad woman to come along and corrupt them?" She asked back her voice becoming husky.

"I'm putty in your hands waiting to be shaped." Ron whispered back.

Shego shifted her hips as she made herself comfortable. "Oh I don't know. What I'm sitting on sure doesn't feel like putty to me."

In their wrestling both had moved near the edge of Shego's bed and Shego reluctantly thought to herself that she would have to get up so they could get back to the middle before they continued. As it was now Ron's head was almost hanging over the edge of the bed. For a moment, she thought about letting Ron take control of their upcoming love making. The thoughts of his large hands smacking her bare butt nearly had Shego panting but it wasn't in her nature to just roll over and let anyone have that kind of control over her, maybe next time.

Shego's began to slowly pull up Ron's shirt, lightly running her nails up and down his belly and up his chest as she continued to peel the shirt off of him. Stopping for a moment she stared into his eyes. Ron's eyes were glazed over with lust and Shego just knew she was in for a marathon of love making the likes she hadn't had in a very long time, when she noticed his eyes dart to the right of them and the grin on his face fall.

Looking over sharply she found Harley Quinn was once again standing next to her bed a few feet from where Ron's head was almost hanging over the edge. Harley had her left hand on her gray prison shirt just below her left breast and the other hand was mere inches from the waistband of the gray prison slacks. Harley's face was flushed and her breathing erratic. Realizing that Shego and Ron had stopped their actions, she raised her eyes which had been focused on Ron's chest to look Shego in the eyes. "Um… Hi?" She asked. "You know, you really need to lock your door?"

Shego's face grew hard. "That…is….it." She stated in a cold voice.

Harley's eyes grew large and she let out a little eep and turning tail she bolted for the door of the room and was gone, Shego a few inches behind her, her hands glowing with green fire.

Ron lay on the bed alone for a few moments and sighed. "I wonder if the plumbing in this lair still works? I really need an ice cold shower." He muttered to himself. Finally deciding he better go keep Shego from killing Harley he rose from the bed and strolled out into the corridor.

Ivy was walking along the rubble strewn corridor of the destroyed lair. She was looking for Harley, although she feared she knew exactly where her slightly crazy lover had gone.

Last night after finding the destroyed kitchen Ivy and Harley had found the naked mole rat Rufus lying on a table using a cloth napkin as a blanket. As soon as they entered, Rufus leapt up and waved in their direction and without their asking him to, Rufus quickly rushed over to the plate of leftover biscuits and carried it to sit it in front of them. He then went back and pushed over to them a pot of honey. Harley had been fascinated with the creature and talked with it for several minutes as her and Ivy ate the biscuits. Ivy was shocked to realize that if you really listened carefully to what the creature was saying, it made perfect sense. Sure, his vocabulary was a little limited but Ivy thought to herself in some ways Rufus was a better conversationalist than half the shrinks in Arkham had been. At least what he had to say was actually interesting. Harley had told the naked mole rat about her adventures with The Joker and then how she broke it off with him to go with Ivy.

Rufus had nodded his head at points in the story and even smiled and flashed Ivy a thumbs up gesture when Harley mentioned that she had realized she was in love with Ivy. Rufus then in his high squeaky voice went on to tell them a little about his and Ron's adventures with Kim.

"Do you think Shego is better for Ron that Kim was?" Harley had asked.

Rufus seemed to ponder for just a moment before nodding his head. "Shego supportive. Kim …" Rufus blew a raspberry showing what he thought of how she had treated Ron.

After having eaten and talking with Rufus for a bit, Ivy and Harley had searched till they found a non destroyed room to sleep for the night. They settled on a room that was not that far from Shego's and that had posters on the wall of the planet earth on which someone had written over them in big markers, MINE and settled in for the night and a bout of love making.

Now Ivy slightly miffed that Harley wasn't in bed with her when she woke was searching for the blond. Hearing a long drawn out wail she sidestepped to the edge of the corridor and watched as Harley raced past her. Not more than a few seconds later Shego her hands glowing with plasma fire ran passed her too. Ivy continued to stand at the side of the corridor and just looked in the direction the two had raced past her. Several long moments later Ron came walking up. "I take it they went that way?' He asked casually.

Ivy glanced over to him and couldn't help notice the sizable bulge in his pants. "I don't suppose I need ask what Harley interrupted this morning to make Shego decide to roast her?" She said nodding in the direction of the bulge in Ron's leather pants.

Ron blushed slightly but resisted the urge to make it worse by trying to cover himself with his hands or turn away. "Yeah, she caught me and Shego starting to get, um, friendly."

"Only starting to?" Ivy asked with a raised eyebrow. "No wonder Shego is a little annoyed."

"Out of the way!" Harley screeched as she came up behind Ron and raced past him. Shego still running flat out passed them a moment later.

"Circular layout for the corridors of this place?" Ivy asked curiously.

Ron nodded his head. "Dr. Drakken always laid out his lairs in this manner. Frankly I think he did it for just that reason."

Ivy looked at him in question. "So Shego when she is enraged couldn't catch him in a corner and he had plenty of space to run."

Ivy nodded her head. "Sounds like he isn't a complete idiot then."

Ron resisted the urge to laugh. "Oh when it came to self preservation I think Drakken might just have earned his self proclaimed title of genius."

"Then again if he was all that smart he would avoid any reason to anger Shego in the first place." Ivy continued.

"A lesson I think Harley needs to learn." Ron bantered back.

Ivy actually smiled. "Well Harley is a slow learner when it comes to the things she wants and whether or not she can have them."

"She wants to push Shego's buttons until Shego fries her?" Ron asked.

Ron noticed a little uncomfortably that Ivy's eyes drifted to his crotch once again. "Harley likes to push people's buttons that is for sure, and she would like to get her hands on a few other things as well."

Ron nervously licked his lips. "You know Shego has this crazy thought that you two are trying to…" He drifted off as his courage failed him.

"What?" Ivy asked smirking. When Ron didn't answer her she started to slowly make her way towards him. Ron for his part backed away from her just as slowly. This continued until both of them had traversed the width of the hallway. Ron wanted Shego that was true but Ivy was one striking redheaded woman and the prison grays she was wearing hadn't been buttoned up fully nearly exposing her cleavage. "Shego thinks Harley and I are trying to do what Ron? Seduce the two of you? Does little ol me look Iike the type of woman to plan something like that?" Ivy placed one of her hands on the center of her chest and allowed the hand to drift downward. One of her fingers caught on the edge of her shirt and another button popped open until there was only one lone button holding her shirt closed at all.

Ron's back bumped into the opposite wall letting him know he could retreat no farther. As Ivy leaned towards him and only a few inches separated them, he held up his hand. "You promised you would not try to control me again." He reminded her.

"But Ron I swear I don't have my control lipstick on." Ivy frowned. "I don't even know what happened to it. I lost it when Global Justice caught us. I don't want to control you, just play a little."

Hearing Harley squealing again Ivy placed a few feet between her and Ron. Harley ran past without even bothering to comment to either of them, her arms pulled in tight as she ran full out. A few moments later Shego pulled to a stop next to Ron and Ivy breathing heavily and dosed her green fire. "Where did that girl learn to run?" She finally managed to wheeze out.

Ivy grinned. "She had a lot of practice with her old partner The Joker."

Shego taking a deep breath made to continue the chase but then stopped. Looking thoughtful for a moment, she reached over to Ron and pulled him slightly away from the wall to block the view of the passage behind him and then she crouched down and continued to breathe deeply. "So what have you two been talking about?" She asked after a moment.

"Ronnie here was just telling me that you have some kind of idea that Harley and I have plans to seduce Ron and you." Ivy stated calmly.

Ron paled and not for the first time he wondered if Ivy was truly crazy or just had no sense of danger.

Shego for her part just looked up sharply at Ivy. "And do you?"

Ivy smirked. "Harley definitely has."

"And you?" Shego asked again.

Ivy from where she was standing could see Shego was sweating from her chase with Harley and her form fitting black costume was low cut enough in the cleavage area for her to watch trickles of sweat run down between Shego's breasts. "I'm…." Ivy paused for a moment. "On the fence at the moment. But I must admit I am starting to see what Harley sees in the possibilities of the situation."

Shego started to rise to her feet to tell Ivy that it was never going to happen when she heard the sounds of Harley who was still running even though there was no longer anyone chasing her.

"Come on Blackie!" Harley was shouting over her shoulder at the empty corridor behind her. "We can't keep this up forever! Sooner or later something is going to …"

Harley who was looking over her shoulder didn't see as Shego stood up and calmly walked to the middle of the corridor in front of her with her arms wide open. Harley turned to look at the hallway she was running down just moments before slamming into Shego's waiting arms. "Happen?" She finished, her voice almost as high a squeak as Rufus's. Shego immediately trapped the smaller blond woman in her arms with a look on her face like the cat that ate the canary.

Harley stared at Shego's close up face and then glanced over her shoulder at the hallway as if still expecting to see a Shego there as well. "How did you get…?"

"I've got you now and there is nothing you can do to make me let you go." Shego smirked at her.

"Oh no?" Harley asked and then reaching around with her own hands she placed them on Shego's butt and squeezed them hard and then for good measure, or maybe just because she didn't want to miss the opportunity she pushed her face into Shego's cleavage.

Shego let out a eep that was totally out of character for her and released Harley and leapt away from the woman.

"Aww you promised you wouldn't let go." Harley cooed at Shego. Shego's hands immediately flared with green fire. "Aww not this again?" Harley whined and ran over to Ron side for protection. "Save me Ronnie!" She yelled and then hid behind him peeking around his back at Shego.

The sight of Harley with her blond hair in pigtails looking like a naughty child peeking around an uncomfortable looking Ron was so comical that Shego felt her anger start to fade a bit and she allowed her fire to go out yet again. That is until Ron's eyes grew big and he leapt away from Harley.

"Watch the hands Quinn." Ron shouted as turned to glare at her. He then realized his back was now turned toward Ivy and remembering the way she had acted earlier, he quickly backed up to place his back against the wall so he could watch all the women in the hallway with him.

Ivy was watching him with undisguised amusement. Harley was winking at him and Shego just looked like a blood vessel was about to burst in her forehead at any moment.

Shego crossed the distance between her and Harley and pointed a finger right between the blond's eyes. "Quit molesting my Ron." She growled out.

"Your Ron?" Ivy asked from where she was once again leaning on the corridor wall. "That is kind of possessive isn't it? Why couldn't it be OUR Ron?"

Shego didn't lower her threatening finger at Harley but glanced over at Ivy. "I knew you weren't a diehard lesbian but swung both ways."

Harley reached up and took Shego's hand that was pointing at her in hers. "Awww don't be jealous Shego, we both want you as much as Ronnie. Think of it as a grope package."

"Group package." Ivy corrected her.

"I said what I meant." Harley giggled.

Shego looked at Harley holding her hand and gently stroking it. "I could fire up my plasma right now and burn your hand to a crisp you know."

Harley blinked her large blue eyes at Shego in an exaggerated manner. "But do you really want to hurt me?"

Shego raised one eyebrow.

"Do you really want to hurt me that badly?" Harley corrected her question.

Shego didn't answer but pulled her hand free from Harley's. "I do not swing that way." Shego said annunciating each and every word carefully.

"How do you know?" Ivy asked as she pushed away from the wall and moved closer towards Shego. "Have you never wondered what it would be like to be in the middle of a pile of lovers? Hands, tongues and bodies stroking against each other to the point you are not sure who is doing what to whom? Just raw pleasure building till you are sure you are going to lose your mind in the sensations and finally you don't care anymore as long as it doesn't stop?"

Shego swallowed nervously and wetted her suddenly dry lips. She stepped away from Harley and Ivy and looked for help from Ron.

"Ronnie will be there too." Ivy promised her in a voice that could only be described as smoky and sensual. "Think of it Shego, Ron in the middle moaning out our names as we bring him to the peak over and over again and then it'll be our turn. Can you think of a better way to spend an afternoon?"

Ron's could feel the blood drain from his face as Shego actually seemed to ponder Ivy's words and a slow almost reluctant smirk began to cross her face. It would have been bad enough, the blood draining from his face but he could feel his tight leather pants become even tighter as the blood found another home in 'little Ronnie'. If Ron had his doubts about what the women were contemplating, it was obvious his 'little Ronnie' had no such confusions.

"I think I'll go and see about making some breakfast for all of us." Ron said and turning he ran off down the corridor. Sure he felt bad about leaving Shego to handle the two women alone and he even worried what Shego might do to them but damn it, he was a red blooded male and had had his 'motor' revved more than a few times in the last couple of days and dealing with three apparent horny women was beyond him at the moment. Anything he could say would probably get him in trouble and if he felt one more woman's hand caress his butt, he wasn't sure he could be held accountable for what he might do.

Harley watched as Ron ran away. "My, he runs very fast doesn't he?" She asked no one.

Reaching the kitchen he saw Rufus just getting up from his sleep on a table top. "Help Rufus! Those women are going to kill me." He shouted at his best buddy in the world.

Rufus blinked and then raising his tiny paws he pantomimed fist fighting.

"No I don't mean they want to kill me! I mean what they want to do to me may end up in my dying."

Rufus cocked his head at Ron in confusion.

"They all want to jump me and have sex with me! Even Ivy and I was sure she wasn't into men like that! What am I supposed to do?" Ron pleaded with the naked mole rat.

Rufus raised one eyebrow and folded his arms as if to say, do I really need to explain that to you?

"Not that. I know about the birds and the bees." Ron shouted. "I mean how do I handle three women?"

Rufus continued to stare at him with one eyebrow raised and his arms folded.

"I didn't mean handle them like that. I mean I've seen porn on the internet and I have a very good imagination. I mean how do I keep Shego from killing Ivy and Harley and do I really want to end up as three crazed women's plaything?"

Even Ron paused in his freaking out and frowned at the last question. "Okay. Dumb question. Let me rephrase that. What will happen to me if those three do decide to share me and make me their sexual plaything?"

Rufus unfolded his arms and flashed a grin at Ron. "Die happy?" He squeaked.

"Well… There is that. I mean I have been questioning which direction my life should go in lately. I'm tired of being the 'good' one. Tired of following orders and laws and then always having people forget my name." Ron dropped his voice. "Maybe instead of always worrying what others think I should for once just live for myself? Engage in day long orgies just because I want to?" Ron pondered seriously. He noticed Rufus was looking behind him and grinning.

"They are right behind me, aren't they?" He asked him.

"Uh huh." Rufus squeaked.

Ron slowly turned to find Shego directly behind him and to either side of her Harley and Ivy.

"We had a chat after you bailed on me Ron." Shego said with a trace of annoyance in her voice.

"Oh?" Ron asked nervously as he started to back up to put the table between him and the three women.  
"And what did you chat about?"

Ivy was the one to answer him. "We've almost convinced Shego to give our suggestions a try but she has decided to leave it up to you."

Ron felt his mouth go dry and his tongue suddenly feel like it had anchor weights attached to it. "She did?" He squeaked.

Shego shot him a look he couldn't decipher but finally she nodded her head.

Ron felt hot, icy and dizzy all at the same time. Here he was faced with every man's ultimate dream. A readymade harem and… Ron for the life of him couldn't decide what to do. So as Ron was apt to do when he didn't know what to do, he disengaged his brain and let his mouth talk and was totally honest.

"I am flattered of course but I don't love you and Ivy." He said to Harley Quinn.

Instead of being disappointed Harley flashed a huge smile. "But you are in love with Shego?"

Ron could only nod his head.

"Well that's okay. We're not in love with you or Shego either. We are not asking you to love us Ron nor are we asking you to stop loving Shego or for Shego stop loving you. We are just trying to get the both of you to open your mind to having some fun with us. Think of it as partners in crime… With benefits."

Ron swallowed nervously as the three women stood there watching him awaiting his decision.

AAAA

Author's notes:

AAAA

Yeah I'm evil for stopping there.

You can almost imagine a soap opera's announcer's voice at this point can't you? Announcer: Will Ron join them as a super criminal? Will Ron decide that physical pleasure is worth giving up all the morals he was taught as a child? What will Kim think when she finds out what has been going on? Will Ron care? At this point would any man?

Will Drakken ever get those cookies off that floor?

Will people ever stop hating Will Du? Should they?

Will Kim and Dr. Director find Wolfgang Amadeus Mozenberg?

Will Mozenberg offer to replace the Director's missing eye if she'll leave him alone?

Will Kim get Mozenberg to use the M.A.N.T.I.S to remove that stick she has shoved up her ass? (Sorry couldn't resist)

And what of the dinner party Kim's mom is having? Is that still on?

Tune in next week to find out. (Give or take a few writer's blocks of course)

Ron looks up at ceiling: You aren't really going to leave me standing in front of three horny women eyeing me like a piece of meat are you?

Announcer: yep.


	8. Chapter 8

Partners in Crime

By Weirdbard

Chapter 8

Dr. Director checked the address written on the card given to her by Dr. Drakken. The writing was barely legible showing that even if Drakken had never received a Doctorate; he still had the handwriting of a true doctor. Frowning she turned to look at agent Will Du. "Are you sure this is the correct place?" She asked.

It had come as a bit of a surprise to her when in the Global Justice van she had read out the address and Will seemed to know instantly what part of town it was in and how to get there and took over the driving. Her surprise only grew when they passed row upon row of strip clubs and adult bookstores. Will nodded at the door with the eye slot in it. "This is the address Dr. Drakken gave you." He assured her.

"Amazing how you knew just where this place was." Kim commented as she eyed agent Du.

"Are you insinuating that I had some knowledge of this Mozeberg before learning of him via Drakken?" Du asked glowering at her.

"No. I'm just wondering how you knew the address and how to get here so well." Kim countered.

"It should be obvious to even a rank amateur as yourself that if an address is 435b, that it must come between 435 and 436. 435 is Gang Ho's House of Adult Toys and Bookstore and 436 is the Lickety Split strip club so obviously this Mozenberg must be located between the two."

"I'm not questioning the numbering." Kim replied with a raised eyebrow. "What I'm asking about is how did you know the name of the two businesses on either side or where they were located? I've lived in Middletown all my life and I never even knew this street or this kind of area existed here."

Will's eyes grew wide and he coughed. "Isn't it more important that we find out if Stoppable, Shego, Ivy and Harley are in this building? And besides, a good agent should know of all addresses in the town he is operating in so as not to get lost. Don't assume just because I knew how to get here that I would frequent such a place!"

Hearing a noise coming from the street entrance to the little side alley they were in, Kim, Dr. Director, Will Du and two other male agents turned to look back and spotted an obvious female dancer from the strip club next door passing the entrance to the alley. The woman who had a overcoat on covering her obscene costume looked down the alley at them and suddenly smiled. "Dewy? Is that you? You usually drop by on Fridays. Are you going to become a twice a week customer now?" She waved one last time and then continued on her way.

"Dewy?" Kim asked.

"Obviously the woman has me mistaken for someone else." Will Du immediately said and turning he raised his foot into the air and kicked in the door to Mozenberg's breaking it in and keeping Kim or the others from questioning him further. He then along with the other two male agents rushed in leaving Kim and Dr. Director standing outside. Kim rolled her eyes at the implication that they thought they needed to protect the woman folk and strolled in with Dr. Director a moment later.

Kim found herself in what she supposed could be called a living room even if only barely. There was a shape in the corner that could be mistaken for a couch except it was covered with a white sheet and had glass jars piled on top of it. A recliner like chair was near a door but it too was covered in white sheets and had glass jars sitting on it. As a matter of fact, every square inch of the room seemed to have either jars sitting or stacked or computer circuits or bits of equipment in it.

Picking a jar at random, Kim bent over to stare into it and found herself looking at a goldfish looking back at her. "Well whoever this Mozenberg is, he must not be all bad if he keeps pets?" She said out loud.

Moving a few inches over Kim looked at the next glass jar and found it covered with a cloth. Pulling the cloth off of the jar, she peered into it and found herself staring at a human eyeball floating in the center of it staring back at her. Giving a surprised eep she stood up suddenly and back away from the ghastly sight only to bump into a shelf. Turning she found herself looking at a large glass jar in which a severed human hand floated. The hand was floating with the fingers splayed wide.

"Oh my God. What is this place?" Kim asked in shock.

Will Du walked over to see what had upset her and peering into the jar, he spotted the hand. As if it was some kind of exotic fish, he rapped on the glass. To Kim and Du's shock the hand's fingers started to curl 

close until only the middle finger was still extended. Du blinked and then looked over at Kim. "Did that hand just give me a rude gesture?" He asked.

Kim was certain that if Ron had been with her he would have made some comment about how it didn't even take a full body to dislike Will Du that even severed body parts didn't like him but she was in too much shock and only nodded her head at Du.

Hearing a noise both her and Du turned to see Dr. Director was pulling cloths off the covered containers in the room. Some of the larger square aquarium shapes contained whole legs or arms and more bits and pieces of human anatomy were revealed, here another eye, there an ear, etc.

The other two male agents whom Kim hadn't made an effort to learn their names were turning green and looked like they were about to hurl at any moment.

"Find this Dr. Mozenberg now." Dr. Director her voice icy calm ordered them. Du ran over to a door in the side of the room and kicked it open and him and the other two men dove into the room. This was one time Kim wasn't going to be upset that they pushed ahead of her. She was not sure she was ready to see what the other rooms might contain. A moment later Du and the others came back shaking their heads. "Nothing in there but clothing and I mean a great deal of it, both men and women's. It is piled up to the ceilings and cover what I think might be a bed in the center of the room."

Kim looked over at Dr. Director. "You don't think they belonged to…" She said making a gesture at all the glass jars in the room.

"We have yet to find a torso or any heads in these jars. Perhaps these parts are not the leftovers of some horrible murder spree?" One of the unknown agents asked.

Du snorted. "What you think he got them from a body parts tree?"

"Maybe the doctor keeps the heads and torsos in another room? Like in a walk in freezer?" The other unknown agent added.

Kim could feel herself grow pale. Sure she stopped super villains on a regular basis and she knew how dark people could get but she had never came across a scene from the Texas Chainsaw Massacre before.

Suddenly all the Global Justice people could hear a moaning and groaning coming from the final door they hadn't checked yet.

Visions of a dismembered person lying on a butcher table ran through Kim's mind making her blood turn to ice but then the faceless person on the table suddenly had Ron's face and her blood boiled in rage. Racing past Du and the other agents she kicked the door open breaking it down and leapt into the room. Only to stumble back out a moment later with her eyes huge.

Dr. Director fearing that Kim had indeed found a mutilated Ron in the next room raced to her side and stepped into the room herself. She too came out but a little slower than Kim did and her face didn't register shock but more of disgust.

"Agent Du." She called out. "Get in there and get that naked man whom I assume is Dr. Mozenberg and extradite him from that machine he is using and get him dressed and bring him out here!"

"Is he?" Kim asked gesturing back at the room and the sight she had seen.

"Using that machine as some kind of sexual device?" Dr. Director supplied.

Kim could only nod her head.

"I believe so."

"That is just wrong sick!" Kim shuddered.

Several moments later Du pushed a man wearing a dirty white lab coat into the room. He had a lean face with a bald head and he glared at them. "What is the meaning of breaking into my home and molesting my person?" He demanded.

Kim started to lunge at the man to demand he tell them where Ron was but was stopped as Du stepped forward and pulled some photos out and pushing some jars out of the way he laid them in front of Wolfgang. "Do any of these people look familiar to you?" He asked.

The doctor raised an eyebrow but lifting some of the jars out of the chair he made room for himself and sat down and picked up the first photo, which happened to be of Harley Quinn. "Rather attractive. I'm sure I would have remembered her. Nein. I have not seen this person before."

Du picked up the next photo and handed it to him. It was of Poison Ivy.

"My such a beauty. Is her skin naturally green or does she do it for cosmetic purposes?" The doctor asked in interest.

"We didn't find out for sure and that is not important right now." Dr. Director replied. Taking the next photo from Du she pushed it front of the doctor. It was a picture of Ron that was taken when he started working freelance with Kim for Global Justice. "Does this man look familiar to you?" She asked.

Kim could tell the moment the doctor glanced at the photo he recognized Ron. "Nein, I can't say I recognize this one either but he does have very common features really so I may be mistaken." Mozenberg replied after a long moment.

Kim wanted to grab the man by the throat and shake him as she screamed into his face that she knew he was lying but once again was stopped as Du picked up the last photo and nearly pushed it into the doctor's face. "How about her? I'm sure you recognize her."

The doctor studied the photo of Shego and Kim could see the wheels in his mind turning. "Ja. I know her. Shego."

"Has she been here recently?" Dr. Director asked.

"Ja. She showed up yesterday with a young man with her." The doctor made a pretense of picking up Ron's photo again and studying it. "Now that I have time to think about it I think she was with this young man."

"Did you and Shego chop Ron up into bits and pieces?" Kim finally could hold back no longer. "Is he in one of these jars somewhere?" She practically screamed at him.

The doctor blinked at her in surprise and then shocked her by starting to laugh at her. "You think I kill people and chop them into pieces?" He laughed again but then managed to get control of himself. "Nein, these body parts are not from people." He seemed to consider for a moment. "Well technically they are from people but I killed no one to take these parts."

Kim admitted it to herself. She was confused.

"Explain." Dr. Director ordered.

"People sometimes come to me with medical problems. Using my machine, I 'cure' them. A bullet here, a stab wound there, a tumor and they have no money to see a normal doctor. I do whatever needs to be done to help them and in the process of curing them I take a small genetic sample from them."

Dr. Director eyed the glass jars in a new light. "These are cloned body parts?"

"Ja Fraulein, exactly so. I work with genetics and cybernetics. I am trying to find a way to replace lost body parts of people who are victims of land mines and accidents. Modern medicine…" Wolfgang said with a trace of bitterness. "Can only clone whole humans, I am working on methods to just clone what is needed. So much cleaner and simpler that way, none of those nasty philosophical or religious problems with does the clone have a soul and is it ethical to clone them only to harvest them for body parts? My method it is just a part so there is no concern that I am killing a thinking being. I am a doctor you know. I have taken an oath to heal, not to destroy."

Kim felt a little better finding out that the horror show she found herself in was not the aftermath of a bloodbath but merely genetic tinkering. It still was creepy as Hell but not as horrifying now.

"Ron, the man who came here with Shego, what did you do to him?" She asked but with a little more control in her voice than she had a moment ago.

"He wished to have a tracking bot in his skull removed so he could move freely without being traced." The doctor answered truthfully.

"Ron wouldn't do that. Ron would want me to find him so I can rescue him from Ivy, Harley and especially Shego." Kim said confidently.

Wolfgang gave a shrug. "He was only here with Shego and he didn't seem to fear or desire to get away from her. As a matter of fact I got the impression they were close."

Kim was instantly in front of the doctor with her hands wrapped in his lab coat lifting him up from where he sat. "You lie! Ron would never leave me for that skanky whore! She is so imperfect while I'm obviously…" Kim paused and seemed to get a hold of herself. "I'm better than Shego." She ended.

"Did you remove the tracking chip?" Dr. Director asked ignoring Kim's outburst.

"Ja." The doctor answered as he eyed nervously the young red head that was practically lifting him off his feet.

"Do you know where Ron and Shego went after leaving your place?"

"Nein. I do not pry into the affairs of my clients. They simply know to pay for the services I render to them or I will not help them the next time they need it. I do not inquire on where they are staying."

"Let him go Kim." Dr. Director ordered. She then looked at the shaken man before her. "I'm sorry but you are under arrest for aiding and abetting known criminals and unauthorized genetic experiments. This country has strict laws regarding that type of research. " Dr. Director softened her harsh look. "I can appreciate your goals though sir. To give back a child with a missing leg the ability to run again, or an old man the chance to hear…" Dr. Director's hand drifted up to lightly touch her eyepatch. "Or someone the ability to see again. But you just can't set up shop wherever you please and use criminal monies to fund your experiments."

The man sighed. "No one understands." Looking up he asked. "Can I at least take Elsa with me? She has no one else to care for her."

"Elsa?" Du asked looking around wondering if they missed someone hiding in the labyrinth of glass jars and dust.

The doctor nodded and walking over picked up the glass jar containing the gold fish Kim had found earlier. "This is Elsa." The Doctor simply explained.

Dr. Director raised an eyebrow but nodded her head. "Yes I think you can take the fish with you."

The man nodded his head and allowed Global Justice to escort him out.

As they were leaving Dr. Director turned to look one last time at the bizarre room. "Will? I want you to get a team of Global Justice scientists over here and see about having that machine in the other room moved to GJ for further study and have all these specimens hauled off and destroyed."

"Yes maam." Du saluted and leaving closed the front door behind him.

All was quite in the room for several long moments and then a panel slid open in a wall and a man in a white lab coat stepped out. "Mein Gott. I will have to move everything again! What a pain in the ass. At least my clone was good enough to fool them. It was lucky I was using the Mantis to take samples from him to check for genetic degradation of the copy vs the original when I heard them outside." The real Doctor Wolfgang Amadeus Mozenberg looked around and noticed his missing fish. "Damn that clone he must have taken mine fish with him too."

The doctor sighed as he moved towards the room with the Mantis in it. The equipment even though it was so huge and menacing looking was remarkably mobile so it would take only a short time to load it in a truck out back and be gone. Course he would have to leave all his genetic experiments behind, which kind of saddened him. They were almost like his children but they could be recreated at a later date. The base of his Mantis contained the sampled genetic material of all the people he had treated with it so his experiments could go on.

The doctor briefly opened a door in the base of the Mantis to make sure the samples were still okay.

"Ja. All is there including Shego's and that blond person with the tracking device." The doctor quietly closed the machine and hurried about his preparations to leave before Global Justice got back or discovered the man they had taken in was nothing but a clone.

BBBB

Back at the lair with Shego , Ron, Ivy and Harley Quinn. A lemony fresh scene awaits. Enjoy.

BBBB

Shego sat at a table in the ruined kitchen area of the destroyed lair and with an effort resisted the urge to melt her hands into the table's surface. To put it simply Shego was major league sexually frustrated. First her attempts to seduce Ron this morning had been interrupted by Harley's appearance in her room and then the two criminal women from another dimension had somehow talked her into allowing them to make Ron a community sexual plaything, if and only if Ron agreed to it and presenting their decision to Ron for his opinion and then… Ron had refused to answer immediately.

First, he had made excuses about fixing them breakfast, which he did. British style scones again with honey. The nearly depleted kitchen pantry having almost nothing left to offer in way of ingredients. 

Shego still felt a slight amazement on what Ron could turn out with almost no ingredients and how tasty what he managed to make could be.

Harley and Ivy had watched Ron like a hawk during the breakfast and Shego was certain that the exaggerated way Harley had licked and nibbled on the pastry with honey was completely unnecessary and had been solely for Ron's benefit. If so, it had been wasted as Ron had stared almost exclusively at Shego. Having Ron watching her while she ate had turned Shego on again and she wanted nothing more than for him just to state what his decision was. If he wanted to leave with just her, Shego would have happily pulled the rest of the lair down around the other two women's ears and left them entombed there and run off with Ron, or if Ron decided he wasn't adverse to the idea of a group deal, Shego by this point was more than ready for that too. Anything as long as she could get the release she so desperately desired.

But instead of a damn decision after breakfast, all Ron had done was say that Harley and Ivy needed some clothing and stated he was going to see what he could find for them and had rushed off again. Ivy had smiled but said nothing.

"_Sure she has Harley to relieve her tensions if she gets too horny." _Shego thought in annoyance to herself. _"That and she strikes me as the type of woman that likes to make men sweat a bit even if she has decided to take them to bed."_

An hour had passed since Ron had disappeared into the lair and Shego was beginning to wonder if the man had fled the lair entirely when she noticed that Rufus was standing on the table in front of her and looking at her. Looking down at the naked mole rat Shego noticed that as soon as Rufus had her attention he would look at the door Ron had left by and then look back at her. Shego frowned and was almost annoyed when Rufus visibly rolled his eyes at her and then deliberately stared at her and then the door again. Finally, Shego got the silent message.

"I'm going to go see where Ron went." She declared as she rose from her chair.

"Great idea. Me and Ivy will go with you." Harley immediately stated.

Shego just turned to glare at her.

"Um, we'll stay right here?" Harley asked.

Shego continued to glare and added a eyebrow raise to it.

"And we won't move?" Harley added.

Shego nodded her head and turning left the kitchen area. Wandering the corridor for a bit Shego finally heard the sounds of a sewing machine coming from a room and pushed the door open. Sure enough there was Ron bent over an old sewing machine fashioning a costume. Shego could see red and black material and instantly realized that Ron was recreating Harley's costume for her. Sitting on a nearby table was already a costume made in green that Shego knew had to be for Ivy.

She watched an unknowing Ron for a moment as he worked.

"Are you gay?" She finally asked out loud.

Ron leapt up from the sewing machine and spun around to face her. "What?!" He asked.

"You cook, you sew and I'm willing to bet if we stay here long enough you'll start to clean this place up, and when faced with three horny willing women you rush off." Shego folded her arms across her chest. "So are you gay or what?"

"I am most definitely not gay!" Ron said in annoyance. "I just figured if we are all going to stay together we are going to need some things."

Shego raised her arms above her head as she stretched and said.

"Ron instead of running off, why don't you just tell me what it is you want?" She barely had a chance to get the words out before she found herself slammed back into the wall of the small room, with Ron's mouth crashing against hers. Ron had his hands on her arms and drew them to her side as he almost savagely assaulted her mouth. His hands then released her ams only to slide down to rest on her butt as he pulled her towards him to mold her body against his.

"_YES!"_ Shego thought triumphantly to herself. _"This is what I've been waiting for!"_

Ron pulled back a little to stare into her eyes. "What do I want?" He practically growled at her. "I want you. Now."

"_Hmm. Guess I wasn't the only one feeling a touch sexually frustrated?" _Shego mused to herself as she returned to trying to gain dominance in their battling lips and tongues.

In their struggles, they ended up slamming into the table holding the sewing machine and nearly knocked it over. Shego could feel Ron practically tearing at her clothes trying to get them off of her and she pulled away from their intense lip lock to say. "Still playing at being the dominant one in this relationship?"

Ron spun Shego around so he was behind her and grabbing a hold of the front of her costume nearly ripped it off her in one primal pull as he yanked it down exposing her breasts. "I'm not playing." Ron growled into her ear causing shivers to run down Shego's spine. One of Ron's large hands found its way to Shego's left breast where it started to tease and torment the woman while the other hand found its way to the crotch of her costume where once again it ripped the material away exposing her and began to caress and tease her there as well.

Shego felt her eyes grow wide when she remembered that her old costume was made partially of Kevlar and Ron shouldn't have been able to tear it away as easily as he was doing.

Almost panting she thought to herself. _"I guess if you play with a volcano you gotta be ready for the eruption when it happens."_

Out loud she managed to state. "One of us is a little overdressed for this party don't you think Ronnie?"

As Ron released her and stepped back to swiftly removing his own clothing, Shego turned to watch him. She was slightly shocked to see his normal warm brown eyes were glowing a soft blue color and felt more shivers run down her spine, but they were not shivers of fear. They were shivers of unrefined lust the likes Shego had never experienced before.

Ron looked savage, he looked primal, he looked like he was going to bang the daylights out of her and Shego was more than ready for it.

A fully nude Ron grabbed Shego up by her waist and Shego slammed her legs around his waist and began to ride him as he dragged his teeth across her neck.

"No hickies Ron!" Shego warned him to which Ron merely growled. His hands slid up her waist till his large hands were massaging and kneading her breasts and Shego's eyes nearly rolled back in her head at the sensations he was causing her.

Back in the kitchen area, Harley and Ivy could hear the sounds of primal growling and moans echoing down the hallway and into the area they were sitting.

"Is that Ron or Shego?" Harley asked as she cocked her head to listen.

"Definitely Ron." Ivy said with a smirk.

"But it almost sounds like an animal. It is so…" Harley tried to describe.

"Raw and primal?" Ivy asked.

Harley nodded her head.

Both women continued to listen as the intensity and volume continued to grow until Shego shouted Ron's name out in a long drawn out wail and then there was silence. Both women sat in silence for several long moments before Harley spoke; she was sweating slightly and breathing deeply. "Wow. Bet Blackie is more relaxed now."

"Shame though." Ivy answered. "Ron is probably completely spent now so there will be no fun time for us." She stared at Harley with half lidded eyes. "Unless you want to…"

"I don't think so." Ron's voice came from the doorway to the room. Both women turned in their chairs to look at him and were shocked to see his eyes glowing with a soft blue light. He had his leather pants on but his shirt was gone leaving him bare chested. Next to him in the doorway Shego was leaning heavily against the frame as if her legs had turned to jelly and she couldn't hardly walk. Her black hair was mussed and she was sweaty and wearing a bathrobe but had a very pleased smirk on her face.

"You don't think what?" Ivy asked as Ron strolled towards her chair. "And now that you and Shego have had your fun, what is your decision on letting Harley and me in on it as well?"

Ron stopped behind Ivy's chair and looked at the woman while his eyes continued to glow in that eerie and unnerving way. Suddenly without warning, he reached down with one hand, grasped Ivy at the base of her head, and pulled her head back till she was looking up at him in shock. He then leaned over and crashed his mouth down on hers and proceeded to kiss her senseless.

While Harley blinked in complete surprise, Ron used his other hand to pull Ivy's chair out from under her while he supported her weight with the hand at the back of her head. Slowly Ron lowered himself down till he was sitting in the chair and then with a deft flip of his wrist he turned the stunned Ivy around till she facing downward and forced her over his lap with her butt in the air.

With one hand firmly on her back he kept Ivy from rising. The other hand he pulled her pants down to expose her panties and raised his hand high in the air.

Ivy with effort managed to turn her head and look over her shoulder at him. "Don't… You… DARE!" She growled at him. Ron calmly met her gaze for a moment before bringing his hand down sharply and spanked her butt with a resounding WHAP. Ivy began to struggle but to her surprise Ron held her firmly in the embarrassing position he had placed her in. Once again Ron's right hand rose and came down on her butt and Ivy let out a yelp.

"You son of a bitch!" Ivy shouted. "Let me go right this instant or I'll make mulch out of you!"

Ron spanked her again. "Ladies shouldn't use such language." He mildly stated.

"I'll kill you!" Ivy ranted as she struggled ineffectually to escape her spanking.

"Harley?" Ron's voice called out shaking the stunned blond from her watching.

"Yes Ron?" Harley asked nervously.

"Ivy's ranting is annoying me. Stop her." He commanded.

Harley's eyes grew wide. "How am I supposed to stop her?" She asked in almost a squeak.

"Find a way to keep her mouth busy." Ron answered fixing her in his gaze as he continued to wail on Ivy's butt.

Harley instantly dropped to her knees beside the chair where Ron was spanking Ivy. Ivy glared at her as if to say don't you listen to him. Harley studied Ivy for a moment and then grabbing her by the back of her head she forced Ivy into a deep kiss swallowing the curses and suggestions on Ron's family tree.

Ivy was enraged. No man had ever spanked her before! She was infuriated that Harley was going along with Ron's instructions! She was… growing very damp in her panties. Ivy's eyes grew wide as she realized she was getting turned on in a manner and intensity she had never felt before in her life. Her butt was blazing with the heat of Ron's spankings but it was nothing compared to the fire in her loins.

Her curses had long since turned into moans of pleasure. Feeling the spanking stop, she pulled away from Harley's full mouth kisses to glance over her shoulder once again at Ron. She watched tantalized, as Ron would raise his right hand high in the air to bring it down to within an inch of her bottom but then stop and slowly lower the hand down to gently massage her burning behind. Each time the hand rose Ivy felt a tightness and coiling in lower abdomen, only to have the effect dissipate when he merely massaged her behind rather than continue through with the spank.

"Ron." She called out his name and almost cursed when she noticed how wanting her voice had become.

"Yes?" Ron answered without stopping his hand but not following through with the spank either.

For several long moments, Ivy refrained from speaking before finally saying. "Don't make me beg."

Ron put a mock confused look on his face. "I have no idea what you mean. I don't want you to beg. Merely just tell me what it is you want."

Ivy toyed with her lip with her teeth. She was Poison Ivy. Men feared her and no one dominated her! She would not break for anyone! Almost against her will, she tracked Ron's right hand out of the corner of her eye as it rose and then came down sharply but stopped before making contact with her butt. She could feel the breeze it caused rushing across her bottom before he lowered his hand all the way and the gentle warmth as the hand rubbed her aching butt.

"Ron… Please… Don't… Stop." She finally said.

"Don't stop what?"

"Damn it spank me will you?" Ivy finally growled.

"Oh, all you had to do was ask." Ron stated and brought his hand down sharply against her butt with a resounding whap. Ivy who had almost expected another feint squealed and started shuddering as that last little bit was all she needed to push her over the edge and into one of the most intense orgasms of her life. The intensity was so great she didn't even notice as Ron lifted her gently from his lap and laid her face down on the table, her hot sweaty face cooling against the surface of the table as her burning butt remained pointing up in the air as she panted for breath.

Ron turned his eyes on Harley who was still kneeling on the floor next to the chair, her eyes glazed over with lust. "Now it is your turn."

Harley's eyes quickly cleared of lust and grew wide with fear. "No that's okay. I don't want to be spanked." She said hastily as she started to get to her feet and make a run for it. Ron sitting down quickly caught Harley by the arm and pulled her over his lap as he had done Ivy but Harley started freaking out and fighting to get free. Ron placing both hands on her shoulders, began to kneed and massage them.

"If you don't want to be spanked then I won't spank you." He reassured the woman as his hands continued to massage the tight muscles in her back.

"You won't?" Harley asked looking over her shoulder up at Ron, with her hair in pigtails it looked a little like a bunny caught in a trap. Seeing Ron nod, Harley began to relax as Ron's hands worked their magic. Harley became so relaxed by the hypnotic ebb and flow of his hands over her back and shoulders she couldn't even say at what point Ron managed to maneuver her around to remove the prison blouse she had been wearing but only that the next thing she knew she was lying across Ron's lap fully bare from the waist up. Ron then pulled her pants and snapped the panties she was wearing off of her with a single deft flick of his fingers leaving Harley completely bare across Ron's leather clad legs.

Harley sucked in a nervous breath as Ron's hands ran across her butt but true to his words he did not spank her but just squeezed and kneaded her butt cheeks before his hands would drift back to her shoulders.

"However, I still think this bad girl needs to be punished for that little trick she played on Shego and me with the dog collars." Ron seemed to muse out loud to himself.

Harley just had moments to wonder to herself how Ron planned to punish her when he had promised to not spank her when his fingers left her back to drift down to her sides. As Ron began to rapidly twitch his fingers, Harley's eyes grew wide and then she started to giggle as he tickled her. Quickly the giggles became full blown laughs as Ron continued his merciless tickle torture. Tears blurred her eyes as Harley laughed so hard she couldn't form complete sentences.

"Ronnie… Please…" She managed to get out.

Just as Ron had done with Ivy he seemed to not understand what she was trying to say. "Hmm?" He asked as his fingers continued to play up and down Harley's sides. "Sorry I can't understand you, could you try not to laugh when you talk?"

Harley took a deep breath and tried to concentrate on what she wanted to say to Ron but just as Ivy had done before her, she realized she was growing very warm and wet so it was with a great deal of frustration she felt Ron's hands stop tickling but came to rest holding on to her sides. Ron however was far from done with the blond in pigtails and only lifted her off his hip to reposition her bending over the nearby table that Ivy was still lying on.

"Ivy?" Ron called out.

The women lying on the table looked at him still with a dazed and happy expression on her face. "Yes Ron?" she answered him.

"Harley is being very loud with her laughing, could you find some way to quiet her?" Ron asked as his fingers once again began to tickle Harley's sides.

A laughing Harley thought to herself that she would happily be muffled if Ivy was going to kiss her as Harley had done during Ivy's 'punishment' but was slightly confused as Ivy rolled over on her back on the table top and sucking in a breath as she slid her panties down and her now naked bottom hit the surface of the table, her hips involuntarily bucking up to keep her aching butt away from the cool surface of the table Ivy slid/crawled until she had positioned herself near Harley but instead of her head towards her, her open legs were on either side of the laughing woman's face.

"_Well this is one way to shut me up as my momma always told me to not talk with my mouth full."_ Harley thought to herself as Ivy grabbed the back of her head and forced Harley's face down to her crotch as Ron continued to tickle her and a giggling Harley started to lick Ivy.

This continued for a while with Harley getting wetter and wetter until Harley suddenly felt something very hard touch her backside and still laughing she turned her head to glance over her shoulder back at Ron. Her eyes grew wide when she saw Ron's manhood rubbing against her butt. From her position it looked like a giant telephone pole was rising and the sinking over her butt and was about to impale her. She turned to look back at Ivy, her laughing fading a bit to ask for help just in time for Ivy to grab her by the back of her head again and force her mouth back down on to Ivy's sex as Ron with one smooth thrust of his hips entered her.

Shego stood a few feet away watching as Ron began having sex with Harley. She idly thought to herself she should feel a sense of jealousy or at least disappointment that in the end Ron had decided to take the harem option rather than just run off with her alone but instead all she felt was a growing sense of excitement watching Ron as he expertly played the women and slowly her hands opened her robe and she dropped it to the floor and began to explore her own body.

Harley was having a hard time forming a coherent thought as Ron's fingers continued to tickle her while his 'little Ronnie', which wasn't that little at all, slid in and out of her. Ron had formed a perfect rhythm as his thrusts forced Harley to move forward with the thrust and caused her mouth down onto Ivy's sex only to have Ivy's sore butt hit the table and involuntarily push up to get away from it, forcing Ivy's sex more firmly against Harley's tongue and Harley would then pull back slightly only in time to receive the next thrust from Ron.

Ivy was already moaning with her impending next orgasm and Harley wasn't far from her own.

Suddenly a firm weight settled onto Harley's back forcing her stomach down against the table and stopped the gentle rocking motions they had set up. Pulling away from Ivy's delectable pussy for just a moment, Harley glanced over her shoulder back at Ron to see what had changed.

Instead of seeing Ron out of the corner of her eye, Harley now had a view of Shego's naked back and swaying hair and realized that the dark haired beauty was now sitting on her waist. Harley watched out of the corner of her eye for a moment the sway of Shego's hair before turning her attention back to Ivy's needs. She could feel Shego's growing wetness on her back and knew the woman was as close to her release as she and Ivy were.

Shego hungrily kissed Ron as she rode the back of Harley while Ron continued to thrust into the blond under her. Ron's hands kneaded and played with Shego's breasts and then to the back of her head to hold her firmly against his lips as he increased the speed of his thrusts.

The only coherent thought Harley could manage as Ron continued to thrust into her was to wonder who of their group would succumb to the raw pleasure first. She got her answer as Ivy pushed down on her head with an iron grip and shuddering she screamed out Harley's name as the redheaded villainess orgasm hit.

Hearing Ivy screaming her name was all Harley needed and she too came with a moan. Not a moment later Shego threw back her head and roaring Ron's name she came all over Harley's backside.

Ron with a final animalistic like growl pulled out of Harley and sprayed his orgasm all over Shego.

All three women collapsed on the table in exhaustion as Ron sank into the chair. As Ivy relaxed she allowed her butt to come into the contact with the table and with a slight yelp she rolled over to lie on the table chest down. Harley lay where she was face down with her head turned towards Ivy and Shego moved far enough to one side to lie down on her back on the table causing the three women to form a triangle with their heads nearly touching.

Harley with a tired smirk on her face looked at her lover Ivy. "Well was I right about it could be fun to be partners in crime with benefits?"

Ivy wanted to point out that so far they had the benefits part but not the crime part but she was too exhausted and her butt was a little too sore so she settled for frowning. "Maybe but if this is the way it goes every time I won't be able to walk or sit." She grumbled.

Suddenly feeling a cold sensation on her butt and nearly jumped, looking over her shoulder she saw Ron was behind her again and was rubbing an ice cube on her aching butt. Somewhere along the line, he had put his leather pants back on. She also noticed his hands were glowing slightly blue as he massaged her butt with the ice but decided that was just an after effect from the intense orgasm she had had and it was a trick of her eyes.

"Where did you get ice?" She asked.

Ron nodded towards one of the large shiny chrome machines in the kitchen. "Drakken had a professional ice maker in here. It was turned off but when we restored power to this section it must have came back on." Ron continued to massage Ivy's butt long after the ice had melted away. "How does that feel now?"

Ivy almost said wonderful, please don't stop but she kept herself from it at the last moment. "Better."

"Only better?" Ron asked with a raised eyebrow.

Ivy concentrated and realized that the stinging pain from Ron's spanking was gone completely now. Pulling her legs up she turned and gently let her butt come in contact with the table top. Relaxing she 

nodded her head as no pain assaulted her. "How did you do that? It was more than merely applying ice to my ass."

Ron ignored her question and walked around the table to where Harley lay boneless. "What about you Harley? You feeling okay?" He asked as he tossed her a warm wet cloth he had prepared for her.

"I wouldn't call it that." Harley lazily drawled as she rolled over on her back. "More like bliss or ecstasy. Can we do it again?" She asked pulling herself up enough to sit on the table top and look at Ron.

Shego still lying on her back said. "Maybe later but right now we have other concerns."

"What concerns?" Harley asked.

"Well for one thing we are completely out of food." Ron interjected.

"And for another sooner or later out of desperation Global Justice is going to start checking my old haunts and maybe even checking Drakken's old lairs. We need to get out of this town." Shego said sitting up and accepting the wet cloth from Ron began to clean the sweat and other after effects of their love making from her body before reluctantly getting up and looking for her robe.

Harley as if she had an endless well of energy and enthusiasm sprang up of the table to pace about. "Great idea! Me and Ivy have a whole new brave world to see. Where are we going?"

Shego resisted the urge to ask how Harley could move after such earth shattering orgasms. Her own legs felt like they were jelly and she had trouble walking over to her discarded robe to put it back on. "New York?" She suggested.

Harley and Ivy looked at one another and then back to Shego. "Where's that?" Harley asked. "What about Metropolis?" She suggested instead.

Now it was Ron and Shego's turn to look blank.

"Go City?" Ron suggested. Harley and Ivy looked blank while Shego frowned at Ron. "No way am I moving to a city where my brothers are. Sure, they wouldn't have a chance of catching us but why risk it?"

"Bludhaven?" Ivy asked.

"Never heard of it." Shego dismissed. Shego and Harley in their movements ended up next to each other and both looked deep in thought. "Las Vegas?" They both said at the exact moment. Both of them looked surprised and glanced at each other.

"Las Vegas? There is one in this dimension too?" Ivy asked Ron in surprise. "Nevada desert?"

"Neon lights?" Harley asked.

"Casinos and gambling." Shego confirmed.

"Sin and vice capital of the world." Ron also confirmed.

"Via Las Vegas!" Harley sang out joyfully. She then looked thoughtful. "Does your dimension have a Elvis Presley too?"

"Had one." Ron said. "He died a while back."

Ivy shook her head. "Weird how our dimensions have so many things in common and yet in other areas they are so totally different." She mused.

"Via the differences." Harley sang again as she walked over to Ron and reaching down cupped the crotch of his leather pants in her hand.

Shego frowned and walked over to grab her arm. "What are you insatiable?" She asked.

Ron took the opportunity to leave the room.

"Says the woman who had Ronnie twice, Ivy and I heard you earlier! I just want to make sure the scoreboard stays even. " Harley said and then to Shego's annoyance stepped in close to her invading her personal space. "But if you want…" Harley said and then slid her hands into the robe Shego had just moments ago found and put back on and let her fingers play across Shego's breasts. "We could play."

Shego this time didn't rise to Harley's bait and get angry but merely eyed the woman standing inches away from her. "You know… Ron promised he wouldn't spank you. I didn't."

Harley's eyes widened and she quickly pulled her hands back and stepped away. "Right. First we need to pull a job for some quick cash and then on to Vegas?" She asked attempting to look innocent.

"First I think…" Ron said as he walked back into the room and held up the finished costumes he had made for Harley and Ivy. "Is that you two should get dressed. Unless of course you have pulled crimes running around naked before?"

Harley smiled and walking over took her costume from Ron. "You have to admit it would make the police descriptions a whole lot more fun." She blew him a kiss as she started to slide the costume on.

"Wow Ronnie." She stated as the costume covered her. "If it wasn't for the fact of the mind blowing sex we all just had, I would say you must be gay to be so good at cooking and clothing."

Ron shot Shego a look that said. "Don't say a word."

Shego laughed and thought to herself, _"Princess has no idea what kind of great man she allowed to slip through her fingers. If I ever see her again I'm going to take immense delight in describing in detail just what she allowed to get away and how I know it."_


	9. Chapter 9

Partners in Crime

By Weirdbard

Chapter 9

Kim stared at the door in front of her and half raised her hand to knock on it before lowering her arm again. She had to admit to herself that she was more than a little nervous and uneasy about the upcoming meeting. She wished fervently that Ron was by her side for this but with the trail having gone temporarily cold and having no more ideas on where to search, Kim found she couldn't come up with any more reasons to put this off any longer.

Staring at the surface of a door so familiar to her Kim wondered if she even had to knock? Shouldn't she just be able to walk in, it was the house she had been born and raised in after all. Finally, she decided she had been gone from the place too long for such familiarity so she reached up and knocked.

The door opened almost immediately to reveal her mother standing there. "Kim!" Ann Possible shouted in happiness and swept her daughter into her arms, and nearly dragged her into the house. Kim looked back at the door in time to watch it slowly swing shut and for just a brief moment, she fantasized about slipping out of the embrace she was in and doing a backflip and sliding out ala some tomb raider style cartoon as the door clicked shut. But she remained in her mother's arms as the path to her freedom was blocked. It wasn't her mother she was so anxious about so she allowed herself to relax into her mother's comforting arms.

"Kimmie cub." Came the voice she had been dreading though so she tensed back up. A fact her mother noticed immediately and she sent a look at her husband to not start. A look he deliberately avoided seeing.

"I hear you and Ron broke up." James Possible stated in a flat tone of voice. "Didn't I tell you that you should have avoided dealing with boys till after you had at least gotten your first two Doctorates? But no, you had to insist you were an adult now and capable of making your own decisions, moving into a house with a man and without the benefit of marriage even!"

Kim sighed. "Daddy we had this conversation after I and Ron graduated High School. I needed a place to spread my wings and experience life as an adult and Ron needed a place to stay since his parents kicked him out and abandoned him. It was just natural for us to move in together and become roommates…"

"I'm glad to hear it was just roommates and nothing more came of it." James Possible stated and turning walked away.

Kim frowned at her father's retreating back. How did he know that it had only been a strictly none physical relationship, that she and Ron had not become intimate? . Kim had certainly not mentioned it to him or her mother and she knew Ron wouldn't. Turning she looked at her mother with a bit of suspicion in her eyes.

Ann Possible met her daughter's eyes and resisted the urge to look away guilty. "What is it dear?"

"I'm sorry that I missed dinner last night and didn't get a chance to talk to your friend from the hospital." Kim stated in apology but continued to watch her mother suspiciously.

"Oh that's no problem dear. When you called and told us you would be coming by tonight I called him and he was still free so he coming by again tonight."

"That's… Unusual isn't it?" Kim asked thoughtfully.

"Why no dear, remember he wants to talk to you to get your thoughts on being a hero? The book he is writing?"

Kim relaxed a little but still looked a little suspicious. "Why haven't you asked me if I have found Ron yet?" She finally asked.

"Beg pardon?" Ann Possible asked as she started for the kitchen with Kim following along beside her.

"I told you on the phone yesterday that I couldn't find Ron and was searching for him and then I show up here and you don't ask me about him?"

Ann Possible gave a shrug. "I figured if you had found him, he would be here with you tonight. Since you came alone I assumed he is still missing?"

Kim nodded her head but didn't look convinced. She knew her mother loved Ron almost as if he was another child of hers and Kim had expected her mother to be more upset and frantic that Ron had yet to be found and would have expected her mother to demand to know what was being done to find him and why was it taking so long? The casual way she was taking his missing was more like; well Ron's own parents would have taken it.

And her mother assumed? Kim knew her mother was a very meticulous and methodical person; after all, she was the woman who helped raised Kim to be perfect. Her mother never assumed anything. Something was wrong and Kim could feel it in her bones.

Seeing the twins enter the room Kim greeted them. "Hey Tweebs."

Both twins gave her an identical hostile glare and didn't answer her.

"What did I do to deserve such a cold reception?" Kim asked.

"We heard how you broke up with Ron to run after Josh Monkey." Jim stated

"Forced Ron out of the house he was renting with you into a dump downtown in a bad part of town." Tim added.

Kim angrily folded her arms across her chest. "What? Is the daily news running a supplement on my life again? How did you hear about all this? Oh and Josh's name is Mankey, not monkey." She automatically corrected them, forgetting for a moment how pissed she was at Mankey herself. The very idea of breaking up with her and then leaving her knocked out on a dirty floor without helping!

"We kept in contact with Rufus over the internet." Jim and Tim said at the same time.

Ann watched her boys. "Why didn't you tell me that Ron had to move into an apartment? And why on the bad side of town?"

Jim looked over at his mother. "Ron continued to help Kim pay the rent on the house even though he was forbidden to stay there so the only thing he could afford was one of those trashy falling down apartments on the other side of the railroad tracks. He took on a whole lot of extra catering jobs just to be able to afford that. He's been practically running himself to death between the extra jobs and.." The boy shot an even angrier glare at Kim again. "Following after Kim on missions to watch her back for her."

"It wasn't my fault. I mean how could it be? Ron and I were just not meshing living together so I decided it would be best for Ron to be out on his own for a while." Kim stated. "And sure I allow Ron to follow me on missions but it is not like I really need his help. I do it more because Ron really likes helping."

Ann Possible began to shake her head sadly. "Oh Kim, listen to yourself. You decided, you allow. A relationship is about two people working together, not one deciding and handing out orders to the other."

"Mom! You know Ron. He's a slacker and drifts through life. If I wasn't there to tell him what to do or how he always needs to improve himself there is no telling where he would be."

"You mean like now? As in missing?" Tim asked.

The glare his sister sent back to him was so intense he stepped back a few steps. "That was uncalled for." Kim finally said. "Global Justice and I are doing all we can to find him."

"You mean by declaring he is a criminal on the run and posting his picture all over TV and the internet?" Jim said.

"WHAT?" Ann shouted. Being a busy doctor, she rarely had time to watch TV or surf the internet unless it was for medical journals so she hadn't seen the wanted pictures yet.

"Mom it wasn't my idea. Dr. Director thought it would be the quickest way to find Ron and save him. She has promised once he is brought in that Global Justice will help clear him of any charges…"

James Possible having heard his wife's yell stuck his head into the kitchen. "What was that yelling about?" He asked.

"Our daughter once she couldn't find Ron had him declared a criminal and has had Global Justice post his picture on TV and on the internet." Ann told him.

"I didn't have them…" Kim tried to defend herself.

"Good. Any man who tries to touch my Kimmie Cub should be hunted down as a criminal." James answered. "I'm just thankful our daughter had the sense to resist him and all other men all this time."

Kim opened her mouth to argue that Ron was not a criminal and she was not the one who ordered his pictures plastered all over town but suddenly stopped and shut her mouth with an almost audible click. Staring at her mother and father with an almost icy calm she finally asked. "How do you know with such certainty that Ron or no other man has never touched me?"

James Possible met his daughter's gaze for a moment before nodding his head at his wife. "She told me." He stated. Ann shot him a look letting him know that he was going to be cozy with the couch for a quite a few nights.

Kim turned her attention fully on her mother allowing her father to slip back out into the living room, only to wait on their dinner guest who hadn't arrived yet of course. Not because he was fearful of his daughter or wife. Oh no not that at all.

"Mother, how do you know that I have never let a man touch me?" Kim asked through gritted teeth.

"Wow Kim does that mean you are a dyke?" Jim asked, his eye growing large.

"Of course." Tim answered. "Now it all makes sense! She only allowed Ron to move in with her to hide her alternate lifestyle and Ron must have walked in on Kim and her female lover so she kicked him out!"

Jim started to nod his head. "Yeah it does make sense. Who do you think her lover is? Bonnie maybe? Or Monique?"

Tim shook his head. "My bet is on Shego. They fight all the time but yet neither of them ever really gets hurt so I'm betting it is just a way for them to clandestinely meet and to be physical with one another in public with no one talking. After the fight they probably sneak off to Kim's house and make out."

Kim turned from her mother to look at her brothers. Her eyes were practically shooting lightning bolts and she was so enraged she could hardly get her jaw to move. "I AM NOT GAY. AND I WOULDN'T HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH SHEGO EVEN IF I WAS." She growled as though possessed by a demon.

The boys raising their hands started inching for the door to the kitchen. They had seen their sister angry before but never to this level. A vein was throbbing in her forehead so strongly both boys wondered if their sister's head was going to suddenly explode.

"Maybe that is where Ron is then?" Tim whispered to his brother Jim. "Maybe he got tired of the way Kim was treating him and ran off with Shego because she was better?"

Kim's eyes grew positively animal like and a raw growl of rage rose in her chest. Both boys very wisely decided a slow cautious retreat was now out of the question and turning they ran as if their very lives depended on it.

Kim would have followed them and there is no telling what she might have done to them in the state of pure rage she was in but she was stopped as her mother grabbed her by a shoulder and spinning slammed her down into a kitchen chair. "Kim!" she shouted at her daughter. "I don't care what kind of stress or problems you are having at the moment, you are not going to take it out on your brothers!"

For a split second, Kim thought to herself how easy it would be to use her kung fu skills, break free from her mother, chase down her brothers, and feel her hands around her their throats but before she lost complete control she took a deep breath and tried to calm down. The first words out of her mouth as soon as she could speak again were. "Ron would never leave me for that worthless soiled goods Shego. I am so much better than her he couldn't even think of such a thing!" She paused and looked down at the table, a moment later; she looked up at her mother with a hint of uncertainty in her eyes. "Could he?"

Ann Possible was about to assure her daughter on how preposterous a notion that was when Ron's words on the phone came back to her. He was thinking of pursuing a woman he had met on Kim and his missions, she was the total opposite of him, and he was afraid it might lead him down a path he wasn't sure of if it turned out she felt the same way about him as he did her. Ann could feel the color drain from her face. Damn if it didn't sound like Ron might have been describing Shego.

"Mom?" Ann could hear her daughter calling her and growing more frantic. "You don't think Ron would leave me for Shego do you?" Kim was horrified. Not just because if true she would be losing her best friend since pre-school but also what would the rest of the world think from the implications? They might decide that Kim wasn't as perfect as she seemed. That maybe Shego was better than she was if her own boyfriend had left her for the criminal. Kim conveniently forgetting that she had been the one to dump Ron.

Ann Possible pulled out another chair from the table and sat down. "Why don't you tell me the whole story from the beginning?" She suggested.

So Kim related the whole recent business starting with Drakken and Shego's attempted theft of a top secret device from a government lab, the appearance out of nowhere of Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy. She told her about Ron being mind controlled by the strange red headed villain known as Ivy and his subsequent disappearance. Kim left out the part about Ron knocking her out; allowing her mother to assume it had been one of the new villainesses on the scene to do it. She slipped a bit and mentioned the tracking device that Wade had put on Ron when she mentioned how they found him in the warehouse with Shego, Ivy and Quinn and Kim noticed the frown on her mother's face but Ann didn't interrupt her daughter and allowed her to continue her story.

Kim explained how she had taken Ron back to her house to recuperate but of course left out all details about what had happened with the lipstick and what she had made Ron watch her do. She then told her about Shego, Ivy and Quinn's escape from Global Justice and the evidence that made it appear that Ron had been involved. As Kim finished her story, Ann Possible got up quickly from her chair and began to pace.

"Mom?" Kim asked and was surprised to see her mother's face was angry.

"How did Wade get a tracker on Ron and how long has that poor boy walked around as if a dog on a leash?" She asked.

Kim blinked. "Wade implanted the tracker on Ron for his own good." Kim looked slightly apologetic. "And as for how long? I'm not really sure. Just one day when Ron was missing I mentioned we needed to find him and Wade reluctantly admitted he had chipped Ron and could locate him."

"Implanted?" Ann asked her voice going down an octave in displeasure. "As in a surgical procedure?"

"A doctor explained it to me. Wade didn't really do anything surgical himself. He sent out a microscopic robot with cutters and it found Ron and entering through the nasal cavities, the device then cut just a big enough hole for it to gain access to the inside of Ron's skull and then attached itself to the inside wall where it wouldn't be in the way or be able to be detected..."

Kim explanation drifted off as she saw her own mother staring at her in horror.

"It was on the inside of the cranial cavity? And the device was released to find Ron on its own to enter the brain without being sterilized? My God Kim, Ron could have come down with Meningitis, brain fever or any number of brain aliments and if this tracking device had malfunctioned and tried to attach itself to Ron's brain instead of the skull wall it could have left him blind, deaf or killed him outright!"

"I swear Mom, I didn't know any of the details of the tracking chip till recently. I would never have allowed Wade to do it if I had." Kim paused for several seconds. "But really it is no big. Wade is a certified genius and he did do it for Ron's own good."

Ann sighed heavily and sat back down again. "Oh Kim I can't believe you. Can you possibly imagine what must have gone through Ron's mind when he found out?"

"What's the big deal?" Kim said with a shrug.

"Kim! Ron is Jewish!"

"So what has that got to do with anything?"

"It means that there is a very good chance that someone in Ron's family tree might have been experimented on by the Germans during World War II. Now can you see what Ron must have thought finding out one of his 'friends' did the same thing to him?" 

"It's not the same thing!" Kim nearly shouted in Wade's defense. "It wasn't experimentation. I'm sure Wade knew exactly what he was doing when he sent out the tracker nanobot."

Ann folded her arms across her chest. "Oh? And how many times do you think Wade had performed that operation on someone before Ron?" She then narrowed her eyes and studied her child in front of her.

"What?" Kim asked nervously. "You are going in tomorrow for a brain scan. I have to be sure now that Wade hasn't chipped you as well."

"Wade wouldn't dare to chip me!" Kim replied.

"Why because you are so perfect you don't need to be watched?"

"Exactly." Kim replied folding her arms across her own chest, she then blinked a few times and quickly unfolded her arms. Not that I think I'm perfect of course, it is just Wade knows I can look after myself."

Ann started to ask how could Kim know for certain since she hadn't known about Wade 'chipping' Ron in the first place but before she could there was a ring of the doorbell and a few moments later the sound of someone being let in.

"Honey? Dr. Philstein is here." James Possible's voice called into the kitchen.

"We will discuss this later young lady but for right now please set the table while I check on dinner." Ann told her daughter in a no nonsense voice.

With Ron, Shego, Ivy and Harley Quinn somewhere out on the town

Harley walking alongside Ron, Shego and Ivy played with the long trench coat she had been forced to wear, opening it rapidly and then closing it slowly as if flashing someone. "These coats make me feel kinky, as if we were going to a porno somewhere and planning on getting freaky. Hey! Does this dimension have porno theaters?" Harley asked in a loud voice.

Shego instinctively glanced around to see if there was anybody close enough to the group walking down the street to hear the loud woman. "Will you shut up?" She hissed at her. "We need food and there is an almost certainty that Global Justice has our pictures posted everywhere so we have to wear the coats. Have you never laid low before?" She paused as she noticed Ron who was slightly ahead of the group had stopped and was staring into a store shop window.

"I've laid low." Harley grumbled under her breath. "I've laid high too." She added with a giggle. "Remember that time Ivy in the Ferris wheel at the Gotham carnival?" 

"Um, you can drop the almost part." Ron said to Shego glancing into a store, back at her once again, and nodded at the window. Ron was wearing a battered fedora hat that they had found in the ruins of their lair shoved down over his blond hair, even though Shego could not recall ever seeing Dr. Drakken or any of the henchmen ever wearing such a thing and with the addition of the trench coat made him look a little like something from an old black and white detective movie.

Harley and Ivy along with Shego quickly joined him and peered into the closed store to see it was an electronics store and a running TV inside the shop was showing pictures of Ron, Shego, Ivy and Harley with the captions underneath telling the viewing audience that they were wanted criminals on the run.

"Your ex sure didn't waste any time having you declared a criminal did she?" Harley asked as she pressed her face against the glass to peer into the store. Seeing her own face peering at her from a TV screen with the words 'wanted criminal' under the photos was not that new of an experience for Harley so she was looking over the interior of the store to see if there was anything in it she wanted to steal rather than paying attention to the news report.

Surprisingly it was Ivy who touched Ron's arm compassionately. "All your family and friends will know now that you have chosen a criminal path. Are you okay with that Ron?" Ron glanced at her and Ivy could see the grin on his face was a touch forced. "My family abandoned me as soon as I graduated from High School and moved away and I didn't have a huge circle of friends." Inside Ron was thinking sadly of Felix who had moved to Germany a few months ago and wondered what his old video game playing friend would think when the news reached him. Ron had kept in contact with Monique and considered her a friend even though she was tighter with Kim than him but somehow Ron thought her reaction would be to tell him to do whatever felt good and right to him. The one person Ron worried about their reaction to his new lifestyle was Kim's mom. She had been like a second mother to Ron, really more like the only mother to Ron and he prayed she didn't feel Ron going over to a criminal life was in anyway her fault.

With a nod, Ron dismissed the TV report. "Come on we need to get some food into you all and then decide on our plans. I've fed you three almost nothing but biscuits in one form or another and while they may have been filling they didn't have nearly enough protein for the way we have been going on."

"And on and on and on." Harley sing songed as she pulled her face away from the electronics' store window. She decided there was nothing in there she really wanted at the moment and didn't notice the security camera that had tracked her movements.

"We should just pull a quick crime and get out of town." Shego stated and then her stomach growled.

"After we get something to eat." Ron admonished her softly.

Back at the Possible family home

Jim and Tim placed strategically as far away from their sister as possible at the dining table watched her as she picked at her food. Wedged behind the table between her mother and father Kim could only  occasionally send a glare their way but it was enough for the boys to be ready to make a dash away as soon as the meal was over with.

There was a heavy silence at the table as everyone tried to eat and pretend as if there wasn't so the boys decided to do their part to get some conversation going.

"So, you are the head psychiatrist at the hospital mom works at?" Tim started the ball rolling.

"Yes." Dr. Philstein said with a nod.

Appearance wise Doctor Philstein was unremarkable. He was fairly young man with coal black hair and a studious face. Physique wise he had the body of an athlete but was just starting to show a slump in the shoulders from sitting hunched over a computer or listening to patients too long.

"You could have a field day studying our sister. She's borderline basket case. " Jim added.

Kim's glare increased at them for a second but then turned to a thoughtful look as she glanced at Dr. Philstein. Her brothers needling of her reminded her of her own half formed suspicions on why her mother wanted her to have dinner with the doctor across from her.

"No I'm not here to study your sister but I would like to ask her a few questions as I am writing a book on heroes and how they become that way." The doctor replied with an easy smile. His cover story already having been worked out with Mrs. Possible.

"Ask away." Kim replied slightly mollified but still a little wary.

"Well I have interviewed firefighters and disaster rescue teams and I'm curious if you feel what you do is any harder or requires more skills than what they do?"

Kim paused in eating and placed her fork next to her plate carefully as she considered for a moment. "Yes definitely what I do is harder than your typical firefighter or rescue worker." She finally said. Kim ignored the frown she got from her mother.

"In what ways?" Dr. Philstein asked curiously.

"Well a firefighter knows his job of course deals with fighting fires and all that implies." Kim said dismissively. "But I never know exactly what I will be facing when I go on a mission. I mean to the firefighter it is just a job, he goes in and when things get bad he deals with it and moves on but I usually go into a mission knowing that the world maybe in danger and if I fail hundreds can die. I mean it is no big. I know I can handle whatever comes up but it just what I do is so much more huge a scale than what a mere firefighter has to contend with."

Ann Possible frowned even more at her daughter. While it was true Kim didn't out and out say that firefighters were not brave or resourceful she implied what they did she could do with no problems whatsoever. To be so dismissive of other's abilities wasn't the way she raised her daughter, was it?

"So you feel that since your tasks occasionally have more potential victims that a disaster a firefighter might face that it means you are more capable than the firefighter?" 

"No of course not, although I don't know many firefighters that have been trained in 17 types of kung fu like I have." Kim said with a smile. "I'm just saying that when a firefighter does his job he rarely has to deal with super villains firing death rays at him while he works. But really, it is no big. I do what I do because it is the right thing to do."

"So you feel what you do is more like a soldier in a war?" Dr. Philstein pressed.

Kim considered. "Well yeah at times it is like that. But what I do is so much more. I mean a soldier has support and is reliant on orders from officers. What I do, I do alone."

Tim and Jim pushed their plates away from them and Tim folding his arms glared at his sister. "You have Ron with you. Or I should say you had."

Kim's smile at the doctor faded and she glared back at her brothers.

"Ron was never my equal in the fight against evildoers. He was never more than just a distraction. Sort of like a soldier throwing a smoke grenade to obscure their charge." Kim returned her attention to the doctor."Not that Ron wasn't good at being a distraction of course; just that I didn't really ever needed him. In most cases the missions may have actually gone smoother and quicker without Ron."

"So you wished that this Ron never went on missions with you?" The doctor asked her studying her face.

"Oh no, I'm not saying that at all. Ron made the missions… Fun. He was always there with me reminding me that no matter how bad things got that I could do anything. And even if his distractions weren't always necessary it was still kind of fun to see the villain's faces when Ron's pants would fall down or he would push the self destruct button on their machines."

The doctor tilted his face as he watched Kim's face light up in remembrance of the things Ron had done. "This Ron person pushed the button that destroyed the villain's machines on more than one occasion? That would imply he was more than just a distraction wouldn't it? And I can't help but notice you use the past tense? Has something happened to this person?"

"Ron recently disappeared." Tim informed Dr. Philstein. Jim glared at their sister. "And Kim had him declared a wanted criminal."

The vein in Kim's forehead began pounding again. "I DID NOT HAVE HIM DECLARED A WANTED CRIMINAL!" She shouted.

"Kimmie cub!" Her father warned. "We will not have screaming at the table."

Kim folded her arms across her chest. "I didn't have Ron declared a criminal! That was all Global Justice's doing. They insisted that it would be the easiest and fastest way to find him." Kim insisted.

Dr. Philstein had never heard of this Global Justice and was almost ready to put it off as some kind of delusion of Kim's except for the calm way the others at the table accepted her statements. Obviously, this Kim Possible had connections with some kind of agency that the good doctor had no knowledge of, and while fascinating this wasn't really why his good friend and colleague Ann Possible asked him here this evening. The doctor being a professional just like Ann Possible hadn't seen the wanted alerts either. 

"Surely if someone turns up missing it is not practical or warranted to declare them a criminal just in the hopes it will help to find them faster?" He asked.

"Well…" Kim answered looking nervous and refusing to meet anyone's eyes. "Something happened that made it look like Ron might have helped some criminals to escape." Kim was quick to add. "But if he did I'm sure he was under some kind of mind control or coercion to do so."

Dr. Philstein frowned. "Now dear lady how likely is it that someone could control someone enough to force them to help release criminals against their will?"

Kim frowned. "Actually you would be surprised how much that type of thing comes up in my line of work."

The doctor decided to let that one go. He hadn't had nearly enough contact with Kim yet to have an opinion but he knew Ann Possible quite well and didn't think any child of her would engage in blatant lies or that if they did so that Ann would allow it to go unremarked or unpunished. The doctor briefly thought to himself that maybe he should continue to study Kim more and really write that book that was being used as a cover story for why he was talking to her. One thing was for certain. The young woman was leading a very interesting life.

"So…" The doctor started but was interrupted when a strange musical tone kept repeating. Kim dove her hand to her side and came back with what looked a little like an oversized cell phone. "Go Wade." She said into the device instantly.

From his position across the table, Dr. Philstein couldn't see Wade's image on the device but he could hear clearly the young man's voice. "I just got a hit on one of my monitoring programs Kim. Harley Quinn was spotted by a surveillance camera at Big Mike's Electronics store downtown."

"Was Ron with her?" Kim asked almost fearfully.

"Can't be sure, there were others with Harley but they were standing away from the window and I can't make out their faces. Harley was pressing her face against the glass and that was the only reason the camera could make out her features clearly."

"How many other people were there Wade?"

Wade peered at something off screen and then looked back at Kim. "There are three other people with Harley it looks like but the lighting is really bad in this video so I can't be sure. They might be 'with' Harley or just happen to be standing near when the video was taken."

"Does Global Justice know about this yet?" Kim asked as she slid under the table to reappear seconds later next to a nervous Jim and Tim on the other side but Kim paid them no heed.

"Nope. I figured you would want a head start over them." Wade replied a little bit nervously. 

Kim started to run from the kitchen but at the last moment remembered her family. Turning she looked apologetically at her mother. "I'm sorry mom but I have to go. I may have a lead on Ron." She then turned to look at Dr. Philstein. "I enjoyed our talk and would like to continue it someday but right now I have to leave. Sorry."

"That is quite all right and I'm sure we can find another time to…" The doctor allowed his words to fade off as he realized that Kim was no longer in the kitchen but had ran out as soon as her speech was finshed.

"So… Is our sister crazy?" Jim asked him.

At Bonnie's house

Bonnie was pacing the floor of her parent's living room. Her on again and off again boyfriend was once again off and Bonnie found herself alone and wanting comfort. Her parents were gone and thankfully took her obnoxious sisters with them so she had the run of the house all to herself.

After graduation Bonnie's life took a, at least to her, disastrous turn. In High School, she was the queen bee. Out of high school, Bonnie found that no one was willing to drop everything for her like they had before. Jobs were almost impossible to find even with her good grades and extracurricular activities because frankly, no one liked her. She could have gone on to college but after visiting a few and being treated just like everyone else, Bonnie decided she wanted to take a few years off to 'find herself'. Actually, she was just taking a short break to lick her wounds and wallow in memories of being number one.

"Damn that Junior." Bonnie muttered to herself thinking of her old boyfriend, Senor Senior Junior. He had been just as shallow and materialistic as Bonnie was so it should have been a match made in heaven. Instead, it turned out to be a match made in Hell. Junior had turned out to be a bit of a dud when it came to the bedroom, being more likely to want to make love to his own image in a mirror than to Bonnie but at least he had been someone warm in her bed but recently Junior had decided on a new goal in life, or should that be an old goal? To be a rock star so he had dumped Bonnie who wasn't groupie enough for him and vanished on her to pursue his dreams of playing lead guitar.

Problem was, he had no idea how to play one. Oddly enough, that very fact seemed to be guaranteed to make him the star he wanted to be and the rock band his daddy was funding was doing quite well.

Bonnie suddenly stopped her pacing. She knew what she could do to make herself feel better. She had heard that recently Kim had broken up with Ron again and since Bonnie had no one else at the moment, she would sneak over and let Ron get lucky again.

Bonnie allowed a smile to cross her face. While Ron was still the loser he was in high school there was a man who knew how to please when it came to the bedroom. Bonnie would never allow herself to be seen openly with Ron but on the sly, he was one superb lover.

Making her decision Bonnie started to reach for the keys to her car when she noticed the TV was on and it was showing an alert about wanted criminals. Bonnie started to turn the set off when she noticed Ron's lopsided grin staring at her with the words underneath "Wanted Criminal on the run." 

Bonnie sank to the couch in shock and stared as the program continued to show pictures of other criminals but Bonnie was no longer paying attention. "_Ron is a wanted criminal?" _ Bonnie thought to herself. _"How could such a thing have happened? He was always such a good person. A loser but a good one."_

Bonnie sat on the couch wondering what could have made Ron the loser turn into Ron the criminal and with a start she realized while she had been daydreaming her hand had found its way up under her skirt and she was lightly running her fingers over her panties. Panties that were starting to get soaked.

Ron was no longer Ron the loser but now Ron was officially Ron the bad boy and that thought made Bonnie to desire him even more than she was moments ago. A loser was someone she couldn't be seen with but a wanted and dangerous criminal? That was something entirely different! The fact that Bonnie Rockwaller could be seen with a criminal would devastate her parents and make her sisters green with envy. Just thinking about it was enough to make Bonnie shudder with desire and moments later to orgasm.

AAAA

Author's notes:

AAAA

Argh! Why does this site hate me so much? Every time I try to post something here it screws with my formatting! This time half way through the chapter it made everything bold and took all my spacings away and ran all the words together. I had to delete my entry, reenter it and then use the edit function of the site and correct everything. Which by the way I hope I caught all the problems and corrected them. I'm still not sure when I hit the little save changes button it is going to work.

Here's hoping. clicks button.


	10. Chapter 10

Partners in Crime

By Weirdbard

Chapter 10

Warning the chapter starts to grow a little dark towards the end.

Kim was tired and more than a little cranky. After getting the call from Wade, she spent almost the entire night prowling the area that Harley Quinn had been sighted in, in the hope she would run across her and possibly Ron's trail but no luck was to be had.

Finally, at 3 am she called off her search, went home and crashed, only to be awakened at 8 am by Global Justice calling. She knew Wade wouldn't be able to keep the video footage to himself forever and sure enough when the owners of the electronic shop got in that morning and saw what their surveillance camera had picked up; they had called the local police which had contacted Global Justice. To keep Wade from getting into trouble for withholding information Kim had to act as if this was the first she had heard of it and rushed to the scene along with Will Du to 'look for clues'.

"I would have assumed you would be more enthusiastic about looking for signs of your sidekick." Du commented as Kim leaned against the wall of the store and yawned.

"Well it's not likely they would still be around considering the tape showed it was about 7 last night when they were through here." Kim pointed out, rather than reveal she had already gone over this area with a fine tooth comb last night and found nothing.

"Perhaps, but this does prove they are still in the Middletown area as you would realize if you were not such an amateur." Du said almost condescendingly as he studied the sidewalk in front of the store looking for possible shoe tracks that could be traced.

"That reminds me. How goes the search for the real doctor Mozenberg?" Kim asked hiding a grin behind her hand as she pretended to yawn again.

Will Du scowled but made sure to keep Kim from seeing it. He still burned with shame remembering getting back to the mad clone doctor's lab to find the hulking machine inside was gone and having to go back to report that to Dr. Director. They had charged down to the holding cells only to find the cell he had been in contained nothing but genetic goo and one lonely looking goldfish in a bowl. Du's failure had been tempered slightly by the fact that even Kim and the Director had been fooled by the clone but Du still had been chastised by the Director for failing to not have immediately assigned a guard on Doctor Mozenberg's place and letting the man get away.

Kim wished she had been there to see the look on Du's face when they found the empty cell but at that time she had been having dinner with her family so missed it. The thought of the family dinner caused Kim's own grin to fade. "What happened to the goldfish by the way?" She asked.

Du frowned and once again wondered at Kim's thought processes. Dangerous criminals were running all over the place and all she could think to ponder was the welfare of a single fish? "Dr. Director claimed the fish as a pet and I believe she has it on her desk in her office." Was all he said in reply.

"At least someone is getting a home out of all this." Kim muttered to herself and tried to look interested in what Du was doing as he scrapped dried chewing gum off the cement and placed it in a plastic bag. What he thought he could find out from that Kim had no idea.

Not far away, Shego, Ron, Ivy and Harley Quinn

Shego was feeling a little over exposed. She was used to being a wanted criminal but all the other times she had been on the run, she had kept a low presence. This time at Harley and surprisingly Ron's urging they were walking around in bright sunlight. Sure, they still had on their trench coats and Shego was grateful that the weather had remained slightly cool and overcast so they didn't look strange in the garments but still. Criminals didn't walk around in the daylight when the authorities had every available television set in the state showing their pictures on it.

She had been shocked beyond belief when Ron had lead them last night to a fairly swanky restaurant for dinner but Ron explained that he knew from experience that the best way to be unnoticed was to be right out in the open. That if you lurk in shadows someone will see you and find that suspicious but if you are right out in the open, everyone will convince himself or herself that you can't possibly be the ones that are being searched for because those type of people hide amongst the shadows, right? Shego had been unsure of his logic but Ron had been proven correct as everyone ignored them and they were able to eat a meal in public in peace.

She had been shocked even more after the meal when she realized that no one had any money to pay for the meal and it had been Ron himself that casually asked who was planning on paying anyway? Shego couldn't help but notice the almost naughty grin on Ron's face as he and the rest of them had gotten up from the table and just walked out without paying and no one had tried to stop them. Once again Ron pointed out that people who ate in such snobby restaurants would never just walk out without paying, lowlifes like that ate at dives, not at elite eateries so everyone assumed they had paid until they were gone.

Shego quickly realized two things from that experience. One she had underestimated Ron again and two was that Ron had an innate ability when it came to psychology and figuring out how people ticked. Sure, he still claimed he was a little clueless sometimes around women although he didn't seem to have any problems earlier that day about figuring out what Ivy, Harley and her had wanted or needed.

But at last they were about to enter a situation where Shego had the experience and knowledge and Ron would have to rely on her instincts, that situation being walking into a bank and robbing it, not that Shego up to this point had pulled any bank robberies in her career. She had always considered that stuff a little beneath her. She preferred the stealthy cat burglaries or government lab thefts to the noise and tension of a crude bank heist.

As they entered the Middletown Main Bank, she glanced over to see Ron nodding his head at Rufus who was peeking out of his coat pocket. Shego watched as the small rodent leapt to the ground and ran around behind the teller windows. She wasn't sure what Ron had worked out with Rufus beforehand but she knew from past experience from her time being Drakken's henchwoman that Ron and Rufus was a devastating team.

Ron then pulled out of his pocket a small paper sign that Shego could see had the words 'Closed temporarily' in bold letting on it and stuck it to the front door, he then nodded his head towards her and casually walked over to lean on the wall a few feet away from a bank guard who looked like he was doing his best to not to fall asleep standing on his feet and was failing at that task.

Shego wanted to pull this crime off as quietly and as subtlety as she could. However, that plan went out the window as Ivy and Harley Quinn shedded their coats upon reaching the line to the tellers revealing their outlandish costumes underneath.

"Hey all." Harley called out cheerfully as she pulled the hood of her costume up and with a practiced ease tucked her blond pigtails up inside it. Shego found herself once again stunned on how well Ron managed sewing scraps of material from Drakken's lair to reproduce Harley and Ivy's original costumes. "This is a robbery. Please remain calm and no one will be hurt."

The people in line and the tellers glanced over at her, seeing the bright colorful costumes she and Ivy were wearing, and Harley's bright smile and painted white face promptly ignored her figuring it had to be some kind of joke. Harley frowned and looked over at Shego. "Shego." She called out stamping her foot as if she was a little girl pouting.

Shego sighed and pulling her own coat off she raised her hands and flared them using her plasma powers. The people in line might not have known Harley or Ivy's reputations but they did know of Shego's and they promptly screamed and dropped to the floor.

A fat and balding man that was probably the bank manager ran/waddled over to the open vault and quickly pulled it closed and spun the lock on it. "Ha. This vault is plasma proof. You will not be getting anything here today!"

The shouting and excitement woke up the dozing bank guard who immediately reached down to pull his gun.

"Sorry, I can't let you do that." He heard an apologetic voice say next to him and glanced over to see a fedora wearing young man in a trench coat standing next to him. Before he could react, Ron reached over and almost gently tapped several nerve ending points on his back and neck causing the guard to 

slump to the ground instantly unconscious. Ron caught the gun the guard had partially managed to pull out of his holster before it could fall and held it in his hands.

The people in line who were now prone on the floor looked over in fear to see another apparent bank robber standing next to a downed guard that they didn't know if was dead or alive holding a gun in his hands but Ron merely glanced at the gun, flipped open the revolver and dumped the bullets into his hand. Pocketing the bullets Ron stared briefly at the gun in his hand before his eyes shown a sudden beautiful blue and he snapped the weapon into two pieces and casually tossed the pieces in different directions. "I hate guns." Was all he said in reply to Shego's raised eyebrow.

Harley and Ivy ignored the teller windows knowing the big money were not to be had there and walked over to the now closed and locked vault. Shego with a shrug moved to join them while Ron continued to hang out near the entrance to the bank.

The fat balding man was sweating but still he tried to project a sense of bravado. "I told you this vault can stand up to whatever you can throw at it." He barked at Shego ignoring the other two women.

"But can it stand up to what we can throw at it?" Harley asked and then to everyone's surprise she walked over and started dragging over a large plotted plant that had been sitting between a couple of chairs in the lobby.

"Good thing this bank uses live plants instead of plastic." She huffed to Ivy as she managed to drag the plant next to the vault door. Shego watched curiously as Ivy pulled off one of her green gloves exposing her hand and then with a slight grimace she pulled out a small knife she had obtained from the kitchen of the ruined lair and made a shallow slash across her bare hand allowing her blood to pool in her palm for a moment before turning her hand to let the blood to drip down into the soil of the plant. After a few moments, Ivy turned her hand up stopping the blood flow and Harley immediately reached out, and taking her hand, she ran her tongue across Ivy's palm cleaning it.

Ivy couldn't resist the smirk that crossed her face and said. "Now Harl, those types of games are not for public display, work now, fun time later" Ivy then pulled her hand away from her lover and pulled the glove back over her bare hand.

The bald man looked at the two women as if they were insane. "I don't know what kind of sick games you two are playing or just what do you think you are doing…" The man stopped as Ivy held up a hand to shush him and then glanced down at the plant. "Grow for momma." Ivy cooed at the plant.

The plant shuddered once and then exploded into instant and insane growth. Branches rocketed skyward as roots of the plant exploded from the pot to crawl along the edges of the vault, finding microscopic cracks and holes that human eyes wouldn't have been able to see, the plant grew into them. A loud groaning noise began almost sounding as if a submarine was under deep pressure and were about to be crushed. Everyone could tell that the noises were coming from the vault.

Harley and Ivy glanced over at the bald man and Shego. "We should move." Harley stated calmly as her and Ivy casually walked a few feet away from in front of the vault.

Shego needed no further prompting and grabbing a fistful of the bald man's shirt she pulled him to the side just as the vault with one last mighty groan popped open like a cork out of a champagne bottle.

Harley giggled and looking at the tellers and the people lying on the floor she proclaimed. "Isn't flower power a wonderful thing? You should always remember to treat Mother Nature with care, cause she can be a bitch when she is mad."

Ivy for her part ignored Harley's antics and grasping a low hanging vine of the plant that was now drapped down from the open vault doorway she kissed it gently. "Thank you baby." She cooed again at the plant. The plant shuddered in joy for being praised by its mistress.

A tall brunette teller standing at her window shook herself from her shock and reaching down she made to jab the emergency button under her desk. The button when pressed would cause heavy security shutters to slam down sealing off the teller area from the lobby and also cause a claxon to sound and shutters to seal the entrances to the bank. The teller had always thought it was kind of silly and dangerous to seal criminals inside the bank with customers but no one asked her opinion on the security measures. Taking a deep breath and hoping that no one would get hurt, she pressed the button and… Nothing happened. No alarms. No security shutters. Nothing.

Bending over the woman glanced under her counter to make sure she had hit the button and to her surprise found a small pink creature standing on a shelf below the desk looking up at her.

"Hi, hi." Rufus greeted the woman with a wave. Looking past the freaky pink thing the teller could see the wires to the alarm button had been chewed far enough back that there was no hope of even trying to manually twisting the wires together to get the alarms to work.

In irritation, the woman left her window and walking down the line she pushed other tellers out of the way and looked under their counters and in every case she saw all the wires had been severed. Finally giving up the woman moved towards the back of the bank and lifting a phone receiver off its cradle she put it to her ear. Dead silence was all that she could hear. Pulling the phone cable the woman wasn't really surprised at this point when the severed wire came into view. Obviously, the rodent had found its way here as well.

Thinking quickly the woman had one last idea and going back to her window, she reached under the counter and after looking to make sure the small pink creature was gone, she pulled out her purse. Reaching into it, she found her cell phone and quickly brought it out. She barely had time to flip it open and start to raise it to her ear when the phone suddenly exploded in a green fire ball that somehow managed to keep from singeing her fingers. The woman looked over in shock to see Shego standing at the end of the teller windows with a hand raised. Shego merely extended her forefinger and waggled it back and forth in a chastising way. "Your minutes have expired." Shego said with a smirk, she then looked at all the other tellers. "And don't force me to cancel your contracts too. I don't want to see anyone with a cell phone up going, 'can you hear me now?' Got it?"

The tellers raised their hands into the air and nervously nodded their heads.

Bonnie was terribly frustrated. There was no other way to describe it. After hearing last night that Ron was a wanted and dangerous criminal she had spent the entire night fantasying about him but it was only this morning that she realized she had no way of locating Ron to attempt to make her fantasies come true. He was on the run! He was probably miles from Middletown by now.

Finally as Bonnie was want to do, she decided a good shopping spree would help to ease her frustration and today she decided she wanted to wave real money under the noses of the clerks in the snobby stores instead of the plastic credit cards she usually used. Nothing could quite beat the intimidation factor of cold hard cash over simple plastic.

So a stop at the bank was in order. Sure she could have used the teller machine outside the bank to withdraw some money from her account but she liked being able to act superior to the tellers inside and make them practically grovel at her feet. It was one of the few places left Bonnie could get someone to treat her as she thought she should be treated, like a queen bee.

In her haste, Bonnie didn't even notice the note on the door that said, 'Temporarily Closed.' but just jerked the door open and regally marched in. Bonnie was so lost in herself didn't even notice the people lying on the floor till she had gotten almost half way across the bank's shiny marble floor. Finally, what should have been so blatantly obvious sunk past her self-absorption and made it to her brain.

"Oh shit. The bank is being robbed." Bonnie muttered to herself and turning on one heel, she made to run to the door and get out hopefully before she could be noticed. Unfortunately, as she turned she found a man in a trench coat was now standing directly behind her blocking her path and with a start she leapt back.

"I have friends in high places and if you so much as touch me I'll have you in prison for the rest of your life!" She quickly told the intimidating hulk in the trench coat with the hat pulled down low over his eyes.

"I didn't think you had any friends in any places left Bon Bon." The man replied.

Bonnie frowning tried to peer up under the hat the man was wearing to see his face. "Ron? Is that you?" She asked in confusion. Was Ron always so bulked up or had he worked out since Bonnie had last seen him?

Ron tilted his head up allowing Bonnie a good look at his face.

"It is you! I heard that you had gone over to the dark side but I couldn't believe it." She practically squealed. Reaching out a hand, she felt his arm through the coat he was wearing. "When did you get so muscular and big?

Shego hearing Ron using the word 'Bonnie' moved from her spot next to the teller windows and reached Ron moments later. Seeing the woman almost devouring Ron with her eyes she took one of his arms 

possessively and pulled Ron from Bonnie's grasp, she then glared at the ex-cheerleader who in the past had been using her man as a boy toy whenever she felt randy.

A giggling and overly happy Harley came out of the vault dancing/pushing a cart loaded down heavily with bags of money. She was in her element. A nice big bank and no Batman to show up to ruin the party! Nothing could go wrong. Seeing Ron and Shego standing near the entrance with another woman piqued Harley's curiosity so abandoning the cart she strolled over.

Ivy came out of the vault a moment later pushing another cart loaded down in the same way. Ivy glared at Harley's back for a moment before shrugging and continued pushing and pulling both her and Harley's carts towards the front of the bank.

"So you are Bonnie." Shego growled at the woman.

"Yeah, so?" Bonnie glared right back. "And you are?"

Harley came up beside the group. "This is Bonnie?" Harley asked, as she looked the woman over. The woman had straight brown hair and was wearing a short white blouse tied back to expose her stomach and a good amount of her cleavage to show. Harley not generally a fan of the 'Daisy May' kind of look decided the woman did have nice perky breasts that allowed her to pull the look off. A short blue skirt and high heels that no woman outside of an expensive night club should be wearing finished off the woman's apparel. All in all, Harley decided while the woman was a little cute she wasn't overly impressed even if the woman did possess a nice rack.

"Why is everyone asking if I'm Bonnie?" Bonnie asked in annoyance

"Ahem." Ivy said loudly as she neared the group with the heavy carts filled with money. "Bank robbery in process, remember? We need to get out of here before someone does manage to call the cops."

Ron who had been staring at Bonnie nodded his head. "Hey I'm new to this. You three are the experts. What usually comes next?"

"We take hostages in case the police get here and we have to use them to negotiate our way out." Harley said instantly with a smirk that sent sudden shivers up and down Ron and Shego's back. It was the same kind of look she got when they had first met and she had convinced Ivy that she needed new pets.

Shego followed Harley's eyes and saw the woman was staring directly at Bonnie.

"Oh Hell no." Shego growled. "We are not taking the skank with us as a hostage. Look there are no police around. No one even knows we are here yet. We can just walk out!"

"I don't think so." A new voice called out from the entrance to the bank, a voice that unfortunately Ron and Shego knew all too well.

"Hey it's screeching Red." Harley called out happily looking past Ron. "She's joined the party as well."

Ron turned slowly and looked even though every fiber in his being knew who was behind him. "Hello Kim." He finally said.

Earlier….

Kim watched Agent Du as he continued to peer and ponder over the small square of walkway directly in front of the window Harley had stood at hours and hours ago. Kim was certain that there was nothing that disgusting piece of cement could reveal to them but she had to admit Du's persistence would be almost commendable if it wasn't so moronic.

Suddenly Du reached into his pocket for another plastic bag.

"What did you find another wad of used chewing gum?" Kim asked snidely.

"No, I believe it is the waste product of a canine." Du replied.

Kim blinked. "You are going to take in for a sample some dog shit you have found? That is the most stupid thing I've ever heard! Shego, Ivy and Harley don't even have a dog with them! How can this be used as a means to finding out where they have gone?!"

Du just sighed. "Untrained amateurs are hardly the perfect judges of what clues might lead to. What method would you use? Wander around the streets for all hours hoping you might stumble across them?"

Kim angrily folded her arms across her chest. "Beats cleaning up doggy crap." She muttered to herself.

Du stood up after getting his sample. "Look if you think you are capable of doing better than me with your unfocused wandering, why don't you? Go look around and see if you can find anything and after you have to admit that wandering aimlessly is not working, come back to me and we'll continue with a professional search."

Kim snorted and walked away without comment. After a short time of doing just what Du had claimed she was going to do, that being wandering aimlessly, Kim spotted someone she knew. Someone she knew and didn't like that much. Bonnie Rockwaller. Following her for a while, Kim saw Bonnie walk into a bank. Thinking nothing of it, Kim almost walked past the bank entrance when she noticed the sign on the door proclaiming it was temporarily closed. Wondering how Bonnie got into a bank that was closed she followed her inside a few moments later.

And that was how she found herself facing her childhood friend and until recently partner, Ron Stoppable

"Ron what the hell do you think you are doing?" Kim asked as soon as she could form coherent words again.

Ron looked slowly around the bank. People were still lying on the floor in the lobby. A vault door was leaning drunkenly to its side while a mutant plant continued to grow and press against the ceiling of the bank. Almost at his hand were two heavily loaded carts of money and Shego was standing at his side, while Harley and Ivy were only feet away.

"Robbing a bank?" Ron finally asked.

Harley giggled.

Kim raised her hands and started talking slowly to him as if he was a child. "Ron, you are being controlled by these women. This is not you."

Ron slowly shook his head at Kim's actions before replying. "No Kim, I'm sorry but I'm not being controlled. This really is me."

Kim shook her head in denial. "No. They are using that mind control lipstick on you, if not that then Shego must have stolen an Attitudinator and used it on you or something."

Ron frowned in annoyance. "No Kim. No Attitudinator was used and no compliance chips, no mind control lipstick, no gas or rays were used on me. This is just me deciding for myself which path my life will go on from now on."

"But…But… You've always been such a law abiding decent person." Kim said in confusion. "This is not like you to suddenly decide to break the law."

"Frankly I think this is an improvement over the loser he was. He's now a man who lives by his own rules and does what he wants to do, a man unfettered by what society thinks, a wild untamed..." Bonnie spoke up.

"Shut up Bonnie." Kim growled at her. Turning her attention back to Ron, she started in his direction. "I don't know what they have done to you, whether they stroked your ego and made it so big that you are not thinking clearly or just plain brainwashed you but once I take you in I'm sure Global Justice and I will be able to make you think and act the way you once did."

Ron really didn't want to have to fight his childhood and one time girlfriend but he wasn't going to allow Kim to take control of his life again. He had more than his fill of people doing that to him. Fortunately, he didn't have to fight Kim because as soon as she was within grabbing distance of him Harley Quinn stepped around him to block her.

"Go away Possible. Ron belongs to us now." Harley said for once without a trace of a smile on her face and placing her hands on her hips and leaning towards Kim.

"What do you mean he 'belongs' to you? What have you done to my guy?" Kim asked.

"Guy?" Harley laughed. "Trust me Ron is more than just some guy, he's all man." Harley smiled and glanced back at Shego and Ivy. "Trust us; we have had more than enough proof of that and we didn't 

have to stroke anything to make it bigger. It was already huge and it sure ain't his ego I'm talking about."

Kim's eyes widened and she looked past Harley at Ron. "Ron? What does she mean by that? You didn't… With her?!"

Ron blushed slightly but then shrugged his shoulders. "What can I say? They had a mad desire for the Ron man, who was I to refuse them?"

Bonnie blinked and looked at Ron and then Shego, Ivy and Harley. "What? All of them?"

Ivy smirked at her. "What can we say? It was a very creative evening." Ivy reached down and rubbed her butt. "A little painful but creative."

Bonnie's wide eyes blinked again. "You mean… All of you, at the same time?" She nearly whispered.

Ivy didn't verbally reply but her smirk spoke volumes.

"Wow. He really has become a bad boy." Bonnie said with almost reverence.

"That's it!" Kim shouted. "I'm not going to stand here and listen you all lie about Ron. He is a good obedient clean sidekick and not some kind of low sex fiend that gets hot and sweaty with tramps!" Kim then threw a punch at Harley.

Harley didn't attempt to duck or block the punch but at the last moment, she grabbed Kim by the wrist and leaning backwards she used Kim's own momentum against her and pulled Kim close to her holding her arm out while her other hand came to rest on Kim's waist.

"What the…?" Kim shouted and tried to pull away. Instead of Harley letting go she swayed her body with Kim's pull and spun the two of them. To the people laying on the floor of the bank it looked like the two women were doing some strange form of the Tango. Kim's face turned bright red, not just from anger but embarrassment as Harley's other hand resting on her hip briefly stroked it as Kim tried to back slowly away from the woman.

Finding she couldn't back away, Kim decided to leap away from the shorter woman. Harley much to Kim's frustration met Kim step for step.

Kim Possible, the woman who knew 17 forms of kung fu, who knew for a fact she was perfect, couldn't shake the criminal glued to her. Kim would step back, Harley would drift with her, Kim would try to hook Harley's foot with her own and toss the woman over her shoulder, and Harley would spin on the other foot and pull Kim with her. Kim would twist to try and throw a punch and Harley would lean back as if Kim was dipping her.

Harley giggled. "You dance pretty good Red, you know that? Pity you never got around to dancing the horizontal mambo with our man Ron. It would have done wonders for you. If nothing else it might have shifted that stick you have shoved up your ass."

Kim upon finding yet another person who knew of her love life, or should that be non love life? Went into a rage and leaping upwards she planned on flipping over the woman's head and getting behind her. Unfortunately, Harley still refused to let go of Kim's wrist and instead of being caught by surprise by the maneuver Harley only stepped back quickly and Kim ended up suspended briefly in mid air as if she was a ballerina on a stage with Harley holding her up. Before Kim's face could even register the shock she was feeling, Harley spun on one heel whirling Kim around and around and then let go of Kim's wrist. A now free Kim spun in mid air and crashed down to the bank's floor to slide a few feet on her backside and end up smacking hard against a cracked potted plant.

"Baby?" Ivy called out and several loops of plant tendrils dropped down from above, looped around Kim's hands, and pulled her upwards to dangle from the tangle of limbs and vines coming off the crazy mutant plant. Once again, Kim found herself a prisoner of a shrubbery gone wild.

Ron fought the urge in him to rush to Kim's rescue and with only a light bit of effort on his part remained standing with Ivy and Shego. Finally, he sighed. "I'm sorry it had to end this way Kim." He stated solemnly and turning he grasped one of the money carts and started pulling it towards the doors to the bank. Rufus ran across the bank's floor to Ron and scurried up on his master's shoulders and looking over at the tangled Kim he blew a raspberry at her.

Bonnie suddenly finding herself standing alone as the group followed Ron ran to keep up with them.

"What the hell do you think you are doing?" Shego growled as she rushed ahead to open the doors for Ron and Ivy to exit only to have the annoying ex cheerleader get there first and stand there blocking the exit.

"I'm your hostage. Remember? I'm rich and my family is well known. I'm perfect as a hostage."

"We don't need a hostage!" Shego shouted.

"You might as well take me along. I will just follow you if you don't." Bonnie replied smugly.

Before Shego could say, 'you can't follow us if I break your legs.' Harley ran up, scooped the annoying ex-cheerleader off her feet, and in a bridal carry boldly carried her out the bank. Shego shot an annoyed look at Ivy as she came up pushing her cart but Ivy just shrugged as if to say you can't stop Harley when she has a joke in mind.

Harley running out of the bank with Bonnie was the first to leave the bank and was just in time for an armored car to pull to the curb to make its normal deliveries. As the passenger side of the armored car opened and the guard came out with his hand on his gun, Harley yelled at him that a terrible disaster had befallen the bank and she needed help. Without thinking, the armored car's driver leapt out of his side of the car leaving his door open and ran over to his partner standing next to Harley. The moment he arrived Harley dropped a surprised Bonnie to land cursing on her butt on the sidewalk.

"What disaster?" Both guards asked.

"This town hires idiots for guards?" Harley replied and hoping up into the air, she grabbed both guards by their heads and slammed them sharply together, knocking out both of them instantly.

As Ron, Shego and Ivy came out of the bank, Shego yelled out demanding to know what Harley thought she was doing.

"I got us a ride!" Harley proudly proclaimed as she pulled the ring of keys off the armored car driver's belt and held them up.

"And she nearly broke my tailbone!" Bonnie still sitting on the sidewalk cursed.

"Good." Shego growled at the spoiled woman as she passed by to take the keys from Harley and quickly open the back of the truck so Ron and Ivy could throw the money bags they had taken from the bank inside.

"Hey I'm your hostage! You have to take me with you!" Bonnie shouted as she scrambled to get up before they could leave her.

"We don't need a hostage!" Shego yelled at her yet again causing people on the street to stare at them. Not as if they weren't before, even the dimmest person on the street could tell the bank was being robbed at this point.

Before Shego could react, Harley was in front of her. Even through the thick white face paint and the face mask that Harley had insisted she put on this morning Shego could see the almost evil twinkle in her eyes. "We have to take her with us if the Master wishes us to."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Shego asked her in confusion.

Harley without turning her head to look at Ron tilted her head in his direction and gave Shego a look that seemed to say play along. Shego shot Ivy a glare as she pushed her cart up as if to say can't you control her?

Ivy with a bored look on her face only shrugged.

Bonnie having finally managing to get up off the sidewalk without slipping on her high heels, stomped her way over and stood behind Harley. "What do you mean by Master?" She demanded.

Shego was briefly amazed by just how much Harley could convey with just her eyes, as the smaller woman seemed to communicate to her that if Shego would just play along with her plans she was going to play the biggest joke on Bonnie and get revenge for Ron.

Ivy sidled up to where Ron was tossing bags into the armored car and leaning over she whispered into his ears. "Whatever Harley or Shego says next, just reply yes to it no matter what it is they say."

Ron looked confused but nodded his head anyway.

Harley turned to look at Bonnie and then past her at Ron. "Master should we take this woman with us?" She asked in his direction.

Bonnie spun on one heel to look to see whom Harley was asking and was shocked to see only Ron and Ivy standing behind her at the armored car's doors.

Ivy nudged Ron and the poor confused man simply repeated what Ivy had instructed him to say. "Yes."

Harley sneaking up on the confused Bonnie, who was wondering why the women seemed to be calling the ex-loser Ron Master and quickly dumping the contents of a money bag on the ground, Harley slammed the bag over Bonnie's head and with a practiced ease that was slightly worrying, tied Bonnie's hands behind her. "I'm sorry but I have to obey the Master. You only knew the public Ron, in private he's become a cruel sadistic monster." She whispered into Bonnie's covered ear, and then grabbing Bonnie by an arm and her butt threw her into the open back of the armored car to land on the pile of money inside.

Before Ron could demand to know what was going on, Ivy grabbed him and threw him into the back of the truck as well, and leaping in after him pulled the doors shut.

Shego shot Harley a glare as if to say, 'you better know what the hell it is you are playing at.' And then ran around to the driver's side of the armored car.

Harley was left standing on the sidewalk next to the loose pile of money she had dumped out of the money bag and frowning she kicked the pile sending currency in all directions. "I wanted to drive." She pouted before diving for the passenger door of the armored car and barely managing to get in as Shego gunned the engine and pulled away.

Mere moments later Agent Du walked around the corner of the building wondering where Kim Possible had gotten to and what all the people were milling about in the street for. Suddenly a dollar bill blown by the wind plastered itself across his eyes. Pulling the currency away, Du stared at the bill for a moment and then looked towards the bank's entrance. "I think something must have happened at the bank." He concluded out loud, as he was nearly swept off his feet by people chasing the blowing money.

It was dangerous after such an audacious crime to remain in town but Shego after listening to Harley plead that they had to go back to Drakken's destroyed lair to take care of one last thing for the millionth time finally headed in that direction. Fortunately, the cool windy weather had blown in a storm front so she hoped the thick cloud cover would obscure any satellite tracking that might be done and being a criminal that took pride in her work, Shego knew about the tracking devices installed in armored cars and with a touch of her searing plasma powers destroyed them. A fact she did while driving at high speed which caused Harley to squeal a bit in fear.

Finally arriving at the collapsed hill outside of town that marked the location of Drakken's old destroyed lair, Shego drove towards a large depression in the ground in back. The loading docks of the destroyed 

lair also served a dual purpose of emergency exits for the old lair and had been spared explosives. After all the last thing you want to do when fleeing a lair is to have your escape route blow up in your face so Shego was fairly certain the secret entrance was still in working order. During their earlier stay, none of them had checked on it deciding to wiggle out of the wreckage of the front entrance but she was fairly certain the secret doors would still work. Heading down into the depression Shego could see Harley bracing herself for what looked like immediate impact with the side of the hole, only to have at the last moment a panel slide back and the truck pull into a underground garage.

"Neat." Harley finally managed to say as she finally relaxed from the 'crash position' she had placed herself in.

Shego snickered. "I used to love doing that to Dr. D. Even though the idiot himself created that entrance and knew about it, he would still tense up and freak out every time I would dive at it like that."

"Yeah. Good joke." Harley a little weakly agreed.

"So…" Shego asked turning to look at Harley fully once she had parked the truck. "What is it we just had to return here for and why in heaven's name did you bring that Bonnie skank with us for?"

"Did ya notice the way that woman's eyes lit up back at the bank when she thought Ron was a 'bad boy'?" Harley asked making air quotes around the bad boy term.

"Yeah, and please don't do that again. Dr. D. was always doing the air quote thing too. Drove me crazy. What about her reactions?"

"What we have here is the beginning of a villain groupie fixation. Bonnie has decided she has to have Ron cause he's a 'bad boy'…." Once again, Harley did the air quote thing but quickly dropped her hands when she noticed the glare Shego gave her. "Um, in any case, if our Ron gives Bonnie even the simplest encouragement, as so much as a smile or a nod, we'll never be able to get rid of her. You heard her. She'll follow us. She'll keep getting more and more fixated on Ron until there are no limits to the incredible lengths she'll go to get Ron to notice her and accept her as a sidekick or partner."

Shego frowned. "Are you sure about that? And what can we do to stop her? Short of her killing her of course, Ron wouldn't stand for that."

Harley's eyes slid away from Shego's and she gave a nervous laugh. "Um, yeah I'm pretty much an expert on the villain groupie thingy and becoming fixated on a hot villain. Just take my word on it." Looking back into Shego's eyes Harley started to get hyper as she explained her theory. "I figure what will do is if Bonnie thinks Ron has become a bad boy…" This time Harley didn't do the air quotes but only because as she started to raise her hands Shego frowned at her so she dropped them into her lap again. "We'll give Bonnie a bad boy she is not expecting. You saw how impressed she was when I let it slip that we all were had by Ron? Well what if we make her think Ron has become some kind of sadist, whip toting Master that took us by force and that he made us his slaves? We'll scare that ex cheerleader back home and have her hiding under her bed in fear that Ron will come after her."

Shego looked at Harley as if she was insane, which to be honest, Harley gets that a lot and then burst out laughing.

"Ron? Our Ron? Some kind of sadistic monster?" Shego could barely get out between peals of laughter.

"Yeah, yeah I know. He has that hick town good boy look going for him with that mop of blond hair and freckles but haven't you ever been, just for the tiniest amount of time, a little fearful of him?"

Shego started to roll her eyes and reply of course not but unbidden a memory surfaced in her mind. A memory of Ron with blue skin laughing maniacally while threatening to drop her into a vat of hungry sharks and Shego involuntarily shuddered. "Maybe just once." She replied, her mirth gone. "But this will never work. Bonnie knows Ron and Ron will never be able to convince her he's changed that drastically."

"Sure he can. I've known some scary guys in my life. A few pointers from me and Ron will have Bonnie quaking in her expensive stilettos just begging for freedom just by his walking into a room she is in. Trust me." Harley replied as she opened her door and leapt out.

Shego looked at her reflection in the rearview mirror. "I have a bad feeling this is not going to end well." She said to herself.

Harley jerked the doors to the armored car open to find Bonnie still with her face covered, cursing up a storm. Sitting across from her Ron and Ivy watched. Harley raised an eyebrow in Ivy's direction and subtly tilted her head in Ron's direction.

Ivy shook her head to show she had managed by gestures to keep Ron from saying anything during the trip to the lair.

Harley's almost permanent grin grew downright evil looking and she suddenly said. "I hope the ease of the robbery pleased you Master and that you won't whip me or Ivy again."

Ron with a blank look on his face opened his mouth to ask what was Harley on but was stopped as Ivy reached over and covered his lips with her finger and shook her head no. She then pointed to where Bonnie was now sitting quietly and very still.

"Ron?" Bonnie asked from inside the bank bag. "You wouldn't whip anyone would you? I mean you couldn't whip anyone. Could you?"

Shego whom had walked back couldn't decide if it was fear or desire that could be heard in Bonnie's voice. The feelings of misgivings inside Shego growing stronger every moment.

Ivy leaned over and whispered into Ron's ear. Ron turned and looked at her and shook his head violently no. Ivy frowned and was joined by Harley whom climbing into the truck leaned over Ron and whispered something to him as well.

As Harley leaned back, Shego could get a clear look at Ron's face and could see the unease on his face but he opened his mouth and said to Bonnie. "What makes you think you know the real me Bon Bon?

Harley frowned and made motions of with her hands as if trying to coach something more out of him.

"You think sneaking into my room and taking advantage of me gives you the right to think you know me?" Ron said more forcefully. Once again Harley made the 'more' gestures. "That just because I let you use me to satisfy your lusts when Kim and I were on the outs gives you some kind of insight into who the real me is?" Ron asked Bonnie with a hint of real anger coming through his voice. Without Harley's urgings, Ron got up and leaning over Bonnie's form he grasped her by the arms and pulled her to her feet. "Do you think you know the real 'loser' that is me, my little Bon Bon?" Ron asked in a voice that was barely recognizable as his own.

Bonnie started shaking slightly and her nervous voice called out from inside the bank bag that was covering her face. "Now Ron you know I've always liked you and that the term loser was more a term of affection that anything else, right?"

Harley quickly whispered into Ron's ear and Ron a moment later said. "Well Bon Bon, let me show you my kind of affection."

Harley then took Bonnie from his grasp and hauled her out of the back of the armored car into the lair.

"Wait! Who has me now? Where are we going? What are you going to do to me?" Bonnie cried out as Harley dragged her away. "Ronnie?!" Bonnie cried one last time as Harley dragged her through a door and it closed behind them.

Ron turned to look at Ivy. "I don't like this." He said.

Ivy just shrugged. "It is just one of Harley's little jokes. No one will really hurt the stuck up bitch." Ivy then left the truck and followed the path her lover had gone, just to keep an eye on her to make sure she didn't get carried away, leaving Ron alone with Shego and Rufus.

"This is a really bad idea." Ron stated after several long moments of standing in silence with Shego.

"You know…" Shego said looking thoughtful. "We could just leave. We have the armored car, the money, we could just get back in and drive away leaving those three here."

Ron seemed to actually consider it for a long moment before sighing. "I can't. There is no telling what those two could do to Bonnie if left to themselves." Ron started walking towards the door leading into the lair and glanced back to see if Shego was following him. "And whether it is right or wrong, I feel responsible now for Ivy and Harley so we can't just leave them in a world that is strange to them and hope no one gets hurt."

Shego frown but finally with a nod of her own head she followed Ron back into Drakken's ruined lair.

Searching corridors Ron and Shego finally found Ivy standing outside of what used to be a storage room near one of the main destroyed labs of the lair. She was standing at the closed door peering into the room through a small inset window in the door and Shego suddenly remembered that the room had been set up as a dual purpose room. A storage room almost all of the time but it could be used as a jail cell in case Drakken had captured Kim Possible. This particular lair had never seen that momentous occasion but the room had been set up just in case.

"Where's Harley and Bonnie?" Ron asked as they walked up to her.

Ivy nodded at the window but kept watching.

Leaning over Ron glanced in and was shocked to see what Harley had done and was doing to Bonnie. This close to the main labs the storage room was more of a wreck than some of the other areas of the lair and a nearly destroyed light hanging from the ceiling by one cable lit the room. The light humming flickered on and off causing a disturbing strobe effect in the room and a few old electronic control panels and cans stacked along the room's walls helped to create an overall effect that reminded Ron of some of the locations in the zombie video games he used to play.

In the center of the room, a carpenter's wooden saw horse had been placed. That is, four short pieces of wood nailed together with one long horizontal piece of wood forming a work surface that carpenters used in pairs to hold up pieces of wood to be cut. In this case, there was only a single 'horse' in the room and on that Harley had placed Bonnie. She was tied towards the back of the saw horse with her butt slightly raised in the air with her feet, still clad in high heel stilettos tied to the supporting cross members of the horse. A rope leading back from her tied hands kept Bonnie from leaning forward to take pressure off of her legs. All in all, it looked like a very uncomfortable position for poor Bonnie to be in. Bonnie in addition to ropes holding her on to the horse now had a black eye mask covering her eyes so she couldn't see and a ball gag in her mouth keeping her from no doubt screaming insults and curses.

With one last check to make sure Bonnie couldn't somehow shake herself free from the awkward surface, Harley quickly walked out of the room and shut the door behind her.

"Okay Ronnie. Here's the gag…" Harley started but was stopped by Shego. "Where did you get the eye mask and the ball gag from?" She asked.

"Um, the eye mask came from the room me and Ivy were sleeping in. I saw it this morning and remembered it and the ball gag came from a box in the closet of that room as well."

"Eye mask?" Shego pondered. "You two must have picked Drakken's old room. That is the stupid sleeping mask he used to wear all the time." Shego then blinked. "He had a ball gag in that room too?" Shego gave a shudder of repulsion. "I don't even want to know why."

Harley gave a shrug. "In any case Ron this is what you are going to do. I want you to go in there and give that Bonnie woman the scare of a life time. Make her think you are going to torture the living daylights out of her and then kill her. Really sell it so when we let Bonnie 'escape' she doesn't stop running from you for the next week or so."

Ron was already shaking his head no. "It won't work. I can't do it."

"Sure you can." Harley replied cheerfully. "It's easy. Just imagine that you are in an audience watching someone on stage acting. The person on stage is you but don't think of it like that. Just think you are watching someone else perform. Once you can disassociate yourself from what you are doing, you can get through anything. Trust me. I know."

Ron looking a little panicked now shook his head again. "No you don't understand, this is really a bad…"

"Do you want Bonnie to follow us no matter where we go? She said her family is rich, which means she probably has the means to do it. Do you want to go to Vegas and find that Bonnie is right there? And that she might be the one to lead Possible to us? Do you want to risk Bonnie trying to impress you and get your attention and end up doing something that ends up with her hurt, or maybe dead?" Harley asked rapidly.

Ron with a sigh shook his head no.

"Then get in there and scare her straight." Harley paused and looked surprised. "Never thought I would be the one to utter a line like that."

Ron sighed again and started to put his hand on the doorknob of the room but was stopped by Harley pulling him back. She looked him over critically. Reaching up, she with a little effort removed his hat and tossed it to the side and mussed his hair. She then pulled off the trench coat he was still wearing, dislodging Rufus who ran over to Shego and climbed on her shoulder, and glared at Harley. Of the entire group Ron was the only one who still had his trench coat after the bank job. Harley then stepped back and looked Ron over once again.

"Still look as intimidating as a flea." She muttered to herself. She motioned for Ron to lean over as if to tell him something. As soon as Ron leaned forward Harley grabbed his black shirt by the bottom and with one quick pull pulled it over his head and off.

"I know what he needs." Ivy snapped her fingers and turning quickly walked off down the corridor. Harley hardly acknowledged her leaving but just looked Ron over once again. Making motions for Ron and Shego not to say anything, Harley opened the storage room Bonnie was in and went back inside. Tip toeing around Harley picked up several cans sitting on the floor and glanced at them but didn't find what she was looking for. Finally spying what she was searching for she almost let out a squeal but at the last moment clamped her hands over her own mouth.

Bonnie sitting on the saw horse with the blindfold on quickly turned her head a few times as if sensing she wasn't alone but not hearing anyone she finally settled back down and continued to try to gnaw her way out of the gag in her mouth.

Sneaking back out of the room Harley closed the door and then squirt something from the can she had found into her hands and both Ron and Shego could smell the scent of machine oil fill the air. Stepping forward Harley began to rub the machine oil onto Ron's naked chest. "A good Master should look all 

hot and sweaty as if he has just finished doing something, we'll leave it to Bonnie's mind to imagine just what."

Harley rubbed the oil for a few seconds and her hands grew slower and slower. "Maybe we should just get you all hot and sweaty the old fashion way?" She suggested her voice getting husky.

Shego frowned and taking the oil from Harley squirted some into her own hands and quickly rubbed down Ron's back so that his upper back torso gleamed in the lights of the corridor as well. Shego had to admit that with the oil highlighting the play of muscles on Ron's stomach and back, he did look kind of intimidating, in a mouth watering kind of way. Shego couldn't help it as her hands started to move slower as well as she traced a few scars the young man had on his back. Shego figured he had gotten them during missions with Kim but instead of detracting from Ron's beauty to her, it only made Shego more attracted to him. Ron could still sometimes look like a confused school boy at times but seeing him like this now only reinforced to her that he was a grown man and in his years had seen more life than most men twice or three times his age had.

Reluctantly both Shego and Harley finished rubbing down Ron with oil as Ivy came walking back; in her hand a coiled whip was seen.

"Where the hell did you find that?" Shego asked.

"The room we were staying at." Ivy confirmed once again.

"Wait. Drakken had a ball gag and a black whip in his room?" Shego asked shocked.

Ivy grinned evilly. "He also had in his closet the cutest little French maid outfit in black and green. Just your size too." Ivy looked Shego up and down. "You sure there wasn't anything going on between you and him?"

Shego's eyes grew wide. "Most definitely there was nothing going on between Dr. D. and myself and the next time I see him I'm going to kill him for just having this stuff."

Ivy laughed and handed Ron the whip, which he with the greatest of reluctance accepted.

Harley giving him one last critical going over frowned. "Ron you look like you are going to a funeral. You have to get into this role. Think of all the times she called you a loser. Think of how she liked to humiliate you. Look scary for God's sake will ya?"

Ron nodded his head and with an effort made his face grow hard and still. Straightening the slump of his shoulders, he looked down on the slightly shorter woman. "How's this?" He asked his voice slightly deeper.

Harley frowned. "Well you aren't scaring me, you just make me want to jump you but then again you aren't supposed to be angry at me. If you really play up the role of an angry Master you should have Bonnie quivering in no time."

"Go get her tiger!" Harley said and then opening the door to the room, she practically pushed Ron into it and shut the door. She then stood on her tip toes trying to peer into the room through the window in the door. Ivy and Shego crowding her so they could see in as well.

Hearing the door open and close Bonnie held her head in that direction and strained to make out any sounds at all. It had only been less than 30 minutes of her being in there but with her eyes covered and in an uncomfortable position, Bonnie thought she had been in there closer to hours.

Ron watched Bonnie as he neared her. What he was about to do was so not him but at the same time a dark side of Ron purred in pleasure at the thought of making Bonnie who had made his life such a living hell suffer.

Careful to not make a sound Ron made his way till he was standing right next to Bonnie. Leaning over he suddenly whispered into her ear. "Hello my little Bon Bon. Sorry to keep you waiting but the other women needed seeing to." Ron put emphasis on the last part of his speech and noticed Bonnie tensing up.

"Nothing to say?" Ron asked casually. "Oh that's right. You can't speak and you look so uncomfortable. Here let me help you with that." Ron stepped behind Bonnie and quickly untied the rope that was holding her sitting so uncomfortably straight on the saw horse. As soon as he did, Bonnie leaned forward and tried to take the pressure off of her legs that were screaming in torment. Ron then reached down and untied the gag and pulled it almost gently from Bonnie's mouth.

"Ron? Why are my eyes covered? Let me see please." Bonnie wanted to curse him for leaving her hands tied so she couldn't remove the blindfold herself but almost as if something inside was holding her back she found herself quietly and politely asking Ron rather than demanding.

"Of course Bon Bon." Ron replied good naturedly and pulled the eye mask down to dangle around her neck.

The first thing Bonnie saw as her eyes adjusted to the dim flickering light was Ron's gleaming chest a few inches from her face. Craning her neck painfully she looked up at Ron's face to see him looking at her sternly.

Suddenly her mouth so dry Bonnie could hardly speak she asked. "What did you do to the other women?"

"Nothing they didn't beg me for." Ron found himself saying to his surprise. Harley was right, if you imagined yourself in the audience watching someone else perform on stage it was easy to get into a character.

Finding it difficult to hold her neck so far back, Bonnie dropped her head down and found herself staring at a black whip being held in Ron's hands. "Ron? Is that a whip?"

"Or am I just glad to see you?" Ron added with a laugh that surprised them both with how dark it sounded. "Yes Bon Bon it is a whip." Ron's voice caused a mental image to form in Bonnie's mind of black velvet slowly sliding off an ebony coffin. An image that didn't help Bonnie's already growing state of nervousness.

"What are you going to do with that whip Ron?" She managed to ask after a moment.

"What does one generally do with a whip and a slave?" Ron asked as he allowed one hand to touch Bonnie's bare back where her shirt ended and before her skirt began.

"I'm no one's slave." Bonnie replied but the quavering in her voice kind of ruined the outrage effect she had been going for. "Why would you want to whip me anyway? I came here willingly."

Ron lowered his head till he was next to Bonnie's ear again. "Oh I don't know. Maybe all those years of you calling me a loser? Of plotting to make me look an idiot? Of you telling Kim she could and should do so much better than me? Oh, I know, how about the time you snuck into my room and tied me up while I was asleep and took from me what I was saving to give to Kim? Namely my virginity. Don't you think any of those reason would be good ones to whip you Bon Bon?"

"But those other times I came to you when you were broke up with Kim. You didn't seem to mind sleeping with me then?" Bonnie whispered. She couldn't deny it she was scared. The new Ron in front of her was acting in ways the old Ron would never have done and Bonnie could no longer be sure she could control him or what he might do.

"Ah yes." Ron continued to whisper into Bonnie's ear as his hand continued to rub her lower back. "Those gracious times you permitted yourself to lay with a loser. Always of course making sure no one saw you enter or leave my house and threatening to destroy me if I were to ever mention to anyone that you had been there. Such a kindness you did for a poor loser."

Ron paused and Bonnie from her position could see the hand holding the whip tighten and relax and tighen again. "You know Bon Bon I have decided something."

"What?" Bonnie asked almost in a croak.

"That you really don't want to see what is coming." Ron replied and lifting the eye mask that was hanging around Bonnie's neck pulled it back into place over her eyes.

"Ron?!" Bonnie screamed in sudden fright of being plunged back into darkness.

"You should call me Master." Ron whispered into her ear and then remembering a line from a horror movie he had once seen Ron licked the edge of Bonnie's ear and said. "Be my victim little Bon Bon."

AAAA

Author's notes

AAAA

Yep, I am ending it there for now, I know. Pure evil. LOL.

We'll get back to Bon Bon and Master Ron soon but the chapter was getting a bit long and I thought what a perfect place to pause.


	11. Chapter 11

Partners in Crime

By Weirdbard

Chapter 11

Bonnie having her eyes covered had to rely on her other senses. She could detect the faint smell of machine oil but being in what her brief examination revealed to be a storage locker she reasoned that smell was normal. When her eyes had been briefly uncovered, she had noticed electronic equipment piled in the room but she had no way of knowing what it might be used for and in her current state her imagination painted lurid visions of things being connected to her and being slowly shocked at a whim of Ron's. And then there was the damaged condition of the room itself. Cracks in the wall and the uneven looking floor, all by the maddeningly flickering light hanging above her, all in all, it looked like she was in a scene from a particularly nasty horror movie, or maybe Hell itself.

Straining her ears, she tried to track Ron as he walked around her but surprisingly the man was silent as a shadow as he moved. Only the occasional brief touches on her back as he circled her to let her know he was still at her side and hadn't left the room. Suddenly Bonnie felt a slight tugging on her skirt and then the unmistakable noises of a zipper being undone. A moment later, she felt a cold breeze on her panty clad butt signaling that Ron had removed her wrap around skirt.

"What are you doing Ron?" Bonnie asked a quiver of fear in her voice.

"Such a nice skirt, no doubt expensive designer clothing. I thought you might appreciate my efforts to keep blood from getting on it." Ron's dark voice called out.

"Blood?!" Bonnie's voice squeaked.

"Well I am good with the use of a whip." Ron lied, as he had never used one in his life. "So I should be able to keep from breaking your tender skin but accidents do happen. I will try though. You have such nice long lean tanned legs, be shame to mar them. All the cheerleaders back in Middletown High had nice legs but yours were always extra nice with that tan you have. Many a time the old Mad Dog would be at the base of the pyramid looking up to catch you girls if you should fall and I noticed that your tan didn't end at your hips but went all the way up. Tell me my little Bon Bon, is it really an 'all over tan'? Guess I'll have to find out for myself." Ron commented as his hands ran up and down Bonnie's legs for a moment.

Bonnie started panting in fear as she fought to keep from hyperventilating as her mind added a slashing whip to the electrocution visions.

Outside the room peering in through the window, Harley turned to look at Shego. "You don't think Ron will actually whip her do you?"

Shego glared at the shorter woman. "You better hope not because if he does I'm going to use it on you next. Our Ron went in there and if someone or something else comes out of that room you'll regret it." Shego promised her.

Harley in confusion looked over at Ivy. Ivy however was staring at the window as if transfixed and her breathing was speeding up. Her face was flushed and Harley in worry realized that Ivy was becoming incredibly turned on by the sight of Ron walking around Bonnie handling her as if she was some kind of helpless prey staked out before a hungry predator. Harley had never seen this side of Ivy before. Sure, the woman was a little cruel towards humans preferring plants to them but she never knew Ivy to be so turned on by the thoughts of violence before. Harley couldn't help but remember how Ivy had climaxed so strongly as Ron spanked her and she wondered if her green tinted lover was excited by the possibility of Ron whipping Bonnie or was she imagining herself in Bonnie's place. Either way it was more than a little disturbing to her.

"Ronnie…" Bonnie began but stopped as she felt Ron's firm large hand cover her bottom and stroke it once before slapping sharply.

"What did I tell you to call me?" Ron asked almost casually.

"Master?" Bonnie asked barely in a whisper fearful that any wrong answer might bring the whip next.

"Yes?" Ron answered as if Bonnie had asked him a question rather than just state the name he had instructed her to use.

"Please don't hurt me. I'm really sorry for those times I called you a loser." Bonnie said with a catch in her voice.

"And?" Ron asked as he stroked her butt again and then spanked it. Bonnie fancied she could hear a hum coming from the electronic equipment in the room and her fear increased.

Bonnie gave a yelp as Ron spanked her again for taking too long to answer and she thought furiously. She could feel something building inside her, something along with the fear but she couldn't decide what it was. "I'm sorry Master than I tormented you when we were in High School together?" She asked.

Bonnie suddenly felt the whip wrap around her throat and Ron pulling her back up into the painful squatting position on the saw horse and his dark voice whispering at her ear again. "That sounds more like you are asking me rather than telling me what you are sorry about. Is that it Bon Bon? You don't know what it is you have done to deserve being treated like this? Are you just an innocent that got caught up in something you don't deserve? Are you so free from mistakes? Tell me Bon Bon, are you perfect?"

The undefined something inside her finally broke and Bonnie found herself sobbing nearly hysterically. "I'm white trash and a lousy person. I deserve whatever it is you decide to do to me. Your little Bon Bon is your slave and is yours to do whatever you will with her Master." She sobbed.

Bonnie was too lost in her flood of emotions or she might have realized that Ron had dropped the whip that was wrapped around her throat and that it slithered around her throat to fall to the floor or if she had been listening carefully she might have noticed that Ron's silent movements ended and she could have easily heard him stumble away from her.

"What?" Ron asked in confusion. The dark sibilance of his voice gone and Ron's normal tones were back.

"I am trash and I welcome my Master's punishment. Beat me or lock me in the closet again." Bonnie continued to sob. "Please Master, correct me and punish me. I am flawed and can only be made better by your corrections and punishments."

Hearing the door to the room open Bonnie, her eyes still covered looked in that direction. "Don't leave me Master! I'll improve! I'll become the best slave you ever had! Don't leave me papa!" She frantically screamed.

A stony faced Ron walked out of the room and only paused a moment to close the door and to look at Harley with eyes that frightened her deeply. "Do not go in there." Was all he said and then turning he started to walk off down the corridor.

"Damn you." Shego muttered at Harley. "And damn myself because I knew in my heart this was going to go wrong but I let it go on." She then ran down the corridor in the direction Ron had went.

Harley looked at Ivy in confusion. "What just happened?" She asked.

Ivy shook her head at her. "I can't believe you used to be a shrink at Arkham before you decided to follow after the Joker like a puppy. Obviously the woman in there…" Ivy inclined her head towards the window in the door. "Was starved from affection by her father or mistreated in some way and that is what made her the bitch she is today. By making Ron appear as a strong father figure going to discipline her you stirred a shitload of emotions up in her. Congratulations Harley, you may have broken the poor woman completely."

Harley swallowed nervously. "And what about Ron?"

Ivy looked down the corridor he and Shego had disappeared down. "There is something hidden in that one too. Something deep and dark that scares him and I think Shego knows what it is too."

"Damn these curving hallways!" Shego growled out loud. Their design allowed Ron to disappear from sight before Shego could follow him and now Shego was having problems finding where he went. There was dust and debris all over the floor so in theory it should have been dead simple to follow Ron but to Shego's dismay Ron seemed to have left no tracks behind at all. Rapidly checking doors as she went Shego began to fear that Ron in his present mental condition might just slip out of the lair completely and surrender himself to Global Justice.

Finally reaching the door to her room Shego opened it and almost walked on past when all she saw was darkness but something inside her told her to flip the light switch on. As light flooded in the room she spotted Ron sitting on her bed cross-legged and cradling her cuddle buddy gently in his hands staring at it. Entering the room, she turned, closed and locked the door so Ron, her and Rufus who had ridden the entire way on her shoulder would not be disturbed.

"Ron?" Shego asked as she slowly neared the bed.

"She begged me to hurt her, to treat her like the trash she says she is. She told me that I could do anything I wanted to her." Ron's emotionless voice replied.

"But you didn't." Shego pointed out.

Ron looked up to meet her eyes and Shego steeled herself to keep from backing away. There was pain in Ron's eyes but also a darkness that scared Shego down to her very toenails.

"But I wanted to. I wanted to throw my head back, laugh, and make her bleed. Make her grovel and plead with me to 'improve ' her." Ron stated. Ron returned to looking at Shego's stuffed toy and then with extreme care as if it was the most fragile thing in the universe he sat it down on the bed away from him. He then held up his hands to eye level and watched as they started to quiver and shake.

"I'm a monster." He finally calmly stated in contrast to his shaking hands. "A monster imprisoned in a very fragile cage that could break out at any moment. A nearly psychotic monster with deadly mystical monkey powers just brewing under the surface."

"Ron we all have our dark sides. You just came a little close to yours today. That does not make you a monster!" Shego said as she started to walk to embrace him.

Ron looked back up at her freezing Shego in her place. "So it wouldn't bother you at all if I decide a name change is in order? Maybe I should start calling myself Zorpox? Or perhaps simply Master? " He said tilting his head as if considering.

Shego forced herself to continue to walk towards Ron. "You are not Zorpox. You are nothing like him. You just had a brush with your dark side and it disturbed you a little but you are not going to turn into Zorpox!"

"Are you sure I am not Zorpox or some cruel and sadistic Master?" Ron asked her.

Shego picked up Rufus off her shoulder and gently sat him down on her vanity table, she gently stroked his head a time or two before giving the little naked mole rat a look as if to say, 'don't interfere no matter what happens' and reaching up she began to remove her clothing till she was completely bared to Ron. "If I wasn't sure would I risk this?" She asked as she climbed up into the bed with Ron and held out her open arms to him.

Ron stared at her for a moment before allowing Shego to enfold him in her embrace as he started to cry.

"There, there Ron. We will get through this but from now on no more allowing Harley her little jokes. From now on, we control them, both of them. Ivy and Harley. If you feel responsible for them then we are going to take control over them."

"What about Bonnie? I think I broke something inside of her and she may never be the same again." Ron cried.

"Global Justice has to figure out sooner or later that we are using one of Drakken's old lairs so we need to get out of here anyway. We'll leave Bonnie here tied up and call Global Justice as soon as we are clear so they can come rescue her. They'll make sure she gets the treatment she needs."

Ron slowly nodded his head and then pulled back to look into Shego's eyes. "You know you could just leave me. Walk away and take the money and be gone and not have to deal with this."

Shego gave a faint half smile. "Like you don't think I know that? But I'm here because I want to be here, with you."

Ron stared into Shego's eyes and Shego was pleased to see the darkness in Ron's eyes fading until they were back to the warm chocolate brown she had first noticed in his eyes when they had first met so long ago. "I love you." Ron finally whispered.

Shego smiled a brilliant smile. "I love you too." She admitted in a normal voice.

A short time later Ron still bare chested and oiled and a fully dressed Shego with Rufus ridding on her shoulder once again were walking back to where Ivy and Harley waited outside of what Ron would from this day forward think of as 'THE ROOM'.

"She's been quiet, only sobbing now and then and begging her Master papa to come back and punish her." Ivy told him as he walked up.

Ron eyed her coldly. "I thought I told you and Harley to keep the door shut and allow Bonnie some privacy?"

Ivy actually backed up a step from the cold crystal like look in Ron's eyes. "I only opened the door a crack now and then to make sure she was breathing." Ivy said quickly.

Ron nodded his head. "Gather whatever you might need or want from this lair. We are leaving." Ron told her.

"Um, what about her?" Harley asked nodding at the door. "We going to take her with us?"

"Absolutely not." Ron replied. "We are going to call a tip into Global Justice and let them know she is here and let them give her the care she needs."

"I think we should take her with us." Harley stated as she started to go into her pouting act but stopped as Ron was suddenly away from Ivy's side and was now right in her face.

"I don't care what you think Quinn. You have two choices…" Ron looked over to where Ivy was watching him. "Both of you do. You can leave with me and Shego and from now on listen to us, or you can head out on your own right now. Frankly I no longer care what your decision is but know if you do go with us, things are going to change."

Harley stared into his eyes for a moment and then looked at Shego and Rufus who were glaring at her before looking to Ivy.

"We'll go with you and Shego." Ivy finally said deciding for both her and Harley.

"Then move!" Ron growled. Both women took off.

Ron looked at the door to THE ROOM and started to reach out to open it.

"You don't have to Ron. We can leave her there." Shego said.

"No. I'm not going to leave Bonnie in there trussed up grotesquely like some turkey for Global Justice to find."

Ron steeling himself opened the door and without another comment walked in shutting the door behind him.

Bonnie who had been silently weeping, leaning forward jerked her head up when she heard the door close and quickly with some strain righted herself on the saw horse. Her eyes were still covered but almost as a flower sensing the sun she turned her head tracking a silent Ron as he neared her.

"Master? You have come back for me?" Bonnie asked with fear but also a trace of joy in her voice.

"Yes Bonnie I'm here." Ron stated after a moment.

"Did I do something to displease you more?" Bonnie asked fearfully. She had noticed he didn't call her his little Bon Bon this time and feared her leaning forward to take the pressure off her legs when he had left had displeased him.

"No Bonnie, you have not displeased me." Ron using his normal voice answered her. Ron was glad Bonnie couldn't see the tears running from his own eyes. Sure, she had been a bitch to him all the years he had known her but Ron couldn't bare the sight of the broken woman before him. Bonnie was a sarcastic, and yes, hateful woman but she was also proud and defiant and what he had done to her made him sick to his stomach.

"If your slave hasn't displeased you Master why do you no longer call me Bon Bon?" Bonnie asked quietly fearing angering him with her question.

Ron swallowed. "Do you like me calling you Bon Bon?" He asked. He couldn't help it, he was genuinely curious.

Bonnie nodded her head eagerly. "I always did. I couldn't let anyone know that of course but I loved the way you would say my name." She paused for a long moment and then timidly asked. "I am still your little Bon Bon aren't I?"

Ron sighed but didn't answer her. Walking over to her squatting form on the saw horse, he started to untie her legs from the support posts.

"What are you doing Master?" Bonnie asked a note of terror creeping into her voice. She knew she was nothing but trash but images of the electronic equipment in the room caused her to fear that Ron was going to be done with her by electrocuting her. "I know I deserve it Master but please don't destroy me! I will serve you and promise to be better than I am now."

"I am not going to kill you… Bon Bon." Ron said finally using her nickname in the hopes, that it would calm the woman down.

As a trembling Bonnie struggled to stand on cramped leg muscles Ron quickly retrieved her skirt from where he had dropped it on the floor, wrapped it back around her waist, and zipped it back up.

Bonnie said nothing but wondered why her Master concerned himself with her skirt. She didn't deserve things like clothing. She deserved to be paraded around dirty and naked for her Master's pleasure.

Ron left Bonnie's hands tied behind her and placing an arm around her waist to help support her weight as her legs tried to regain the feeling in them, he started to lead her out of THE ROOM and out into the corridor.

"Where are we going Master?"Bonnie asked with a note of nervousness but also hope in her voice. Perhaps her Master had decided to punish her in a sexual manner? That was something Bonnie would actually look forward to doing. She would please her Master in any manner he asked and would soon replace the others as his favored slave. She wasn't into girls but if her Master ordered it, she would even pleasure the other women while he watched anything to please her new Master.

Ron shared a look with Shego as he walked past her in the hallway and gently guided Bonnie towards the kitchen area of the ruined lair. Being one of the larger rooms it would be more comfortable for Bonnie and easier for Global Justice to find when they called in the tip after they had left.

Shego tilted her head letting Ron know she wanted to talk to him and with a whispered command to Bonnie not to move Ron left her leaning on the slightly curved surface of the wall of the corridor.

Shego leaned in to whisper into Ron's ear as he reached her side, Rufus quickly scrambled over to her other side to make room. "We will need a new vehicle to replace the armored car which they will be looking for. I'm going to slip out and get one. I know just the perfect one to use and it will only take me two hours to get it and get back."

Ron didn't want Shego to go out on her own, it wasn't that he feared she was going to ditch him and take off on her own but the fear that she might run into Kim or Global Justice when he was not there with her to help fend them off but he knew Shego was used to being a strong independent woman used to doing things on her own so he reluctantly nodded his head but then whispered back to her anyway. "If you are not back within two hours I'm coming to look for you."

Shego knowing Ron meant it as concern for her welfare and that if it wasn't for the fact he would be leaving Bonnie at the mercies of Harley and Ivy he would have insisted on going with her smiled and drew him in for a kiss before slipping off down the hallway towards the rear entrance. The last sight Ron had of her was her walking away while Rufus still on her shoulder was looking back at him with a tiny thumb up showing he was going with Shego and would look out for her.

Bonnie leaned in exactly the position her Master had placed her but strained her ears to catch the slightest sounds and her nose was twitching slightly as she tried to catch the faintest whiff of her Master coming back. She still jumped slightly however when Ron appeared at her side and placed a hand on her shoulder to steer her once again. Bonnie would never risk angering her Master to ask but she was dying of curiosity to know how Ron had learned to move so silently.

Reaching the kitchen area Ron steered Bonnie to one of the chairs and sat her down in it. Since the chair had no arms on it Ron left Bonnie's hands tied behind her and fetching a piece of rope he tied a single loop around her waist holding her back against the chair and two other lengths to tie her legs to the chair's supporting legs.

Bonnie's mouth was dry as she nervously tried to swallow. The chair she was sitting in felt like it was wood against her back and legs and once again, she feared that Ron had strapped her into an electric chair to be rid of her.

"_But don't electric chairs have arms that they strap the victim's arms to?"_ Bonnie thought to herself. "Master where are we?" She asked timidly after coughing past a desert dry throat a few times.

Light flooded into her eyes as Ron carefully removed the blindfold she was wearing. Walking away as Bonnie blinked trying to get her eyes to adapt; Ron was back with a glass of water a moment later.

Bonnie gratefully drank as Ron held the glass up to her lips. For a moment, she feared he was going to grab her by the back of the head and force the water down her throat in an attempt to drown her but Ron was careful to let Bonnie sip what she needed and pulled the glass away as soon as it was apparent she had enough.

"Why are we here Master?" Bonnie asked as soon as Ron removed the glass and set it down on a nearby table.

"I thought you would be more comfortable here Bon Bon." Ron answered making sure to use her nickname again.

Ron expected once Bonnie could see again that some of her fire would come back and she would start cursing him and revert more to her normal self but to his surprise he saw Bonnie's eyes soften at him. "I'm unworthy of your kindness Master." She said solemnly and then glanced down shyly. This behavior was so vastly different than what Ron was used to from her he could only stare at her for a moment.

"I'm leaving you here so Global Justice can find you." Ron finally added.

If he thought Bonnie looked frightened earlier, the sheer stark terror in her face confused him as she looked back up into his eyes and seemed to be searching for something in them.

"You are abandoning me?" Bonnie cried pitifully. "I know I'm unworthy but I'm begging you don't throw me away! I can be a better slave!"

As Ron started to get up to walk out of the kitchen area, she grew desperate and frantic. "You didn't whip me yet! Don't you want to punish me for the way I mistreated you all those years?"

Ron's back grew stiff and he continued to walk out without looking back.

"If it is beneath you my Master to whip me, you can let one of the others do it while you watch. Please Master? Don't leave me again Papa!" Bonnie once again screamed out as Ron pushed the door to the room open and left.

At Global Justice headquarters.

A deeply embarrassed Kim stood rigid at attention as she was chewed out by Dr. Director. Next to her and equally uncomfortable Will Du stood.

"I can't believe you didn't call for backup the moment you saw that the bank was being robbed Kim." Dr. Director in a disappointed voice told the ex-cheerleader. "What were you thinking?"

"There just wasn't time…" Kim began but stopped as Dr. Director fixed her with a gaze.

"Four wanted criminals are robbing a bank and you didn't think there was time to call for help?" Dr. Director asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Three." Kim said quietly but with conviction.

"What?"

"There were only three criminals in that bank. Ron is an innocent they are just using." Kim stated.

Dr. Director sighed. "Kim we have the videotapes of the robbery plus eyewitness reports. Ron was involved in that robbery as much as any of the women, he even knocked out the bank guard…"

"He was being controlled!" Kim said her voice nearly cracking. "Ivy used that mind control lipstick on him, I know it!"

Dr. Director sighed. "Kim you may just have to face the fact that we have lost the Ron Stoppable we knew and that he has crossed over to the enemies' side all on his own."

"No!" Kim screamed startling the older woman and even making Will jump. "Ron wouldn't betray me like that. He couldn't! Not me!"

Dr. Director rubbed her one good eye as she considered what to do with Kim. She always knew that Kim's greatest weakness was Ron and she wasn't oblivious to the way Kim had been treating him lately and feared that a permanent breakup was in the making and that it might affect Kim when it happened. But of course, in her wildest musings Dr. Director never imagined that Kim's actions on pushing Ron away would end up with Ron becoming the latest criminal her and her group would have to deal with.

"I am taking you off of this investigation Kim." Dr. Director finally said. "You need to spend some time with your family, relax and recharge your batteries as it were."

Kim blinked at her as if she suddenly couldn't understand the language she was speaking. "You are what? This isn't something you can just order me to walk away from and forget. Ron has been my friend since preschool and if you think I'm going to leave it in the hands of bunglers like you and Du?"

"Kim that is enough!" Dr. Director finally shouted herself. "You will listen to my orders and do what I say."

"Or what? I don't officially work for you remember. I'm freelance which means I can come and go at my discretion. You don't own me!" Kim barked and turning started to walk away.

"I can have you declared a vigilante and have you arrested for interfering with an official Global Justice investigation!" Dr. Director didn't shout but her voice cut through the room as if she had anyway.

Kim slowly turned to glare back at her. "Are you forgetting who I am? I am Kim Possible. I'm the girl who can do anything! You even think about restraining me in any way and I'll have Wade dump everything we know about this organization to every newspaper known on this planet! I…Don't….Need….You. You…Need….Me." Kim growled and turning back stormed out of the room.

Kim didn't relax her guard till she was out of Global Justice's headquarters and walking back towards… Kim stopped as she realized she didn't really know where to go. She could go back to her house but it was empty and lonely there and everything reminded her of Ron, or she could go back to her parent's place but she knew that only in a short time she would have to kill her brothers for some comment they would make about it being her fault that Ron was gone. She could go to Ron's place to look for clues but Kim with sudden shame realized she didn't know where he had moved to after she had kicked him out of 'their' house.

Kim hated to admit it, she was perfect and being so she shouldn't need anyone but she did, she needed her Ron and failing that, she needed someone to help her get him back. Someone who could help explain Ron's sudden independent streak, his sudden defiance to her, his sudden ability to hide where Kim and Global Justice couldn't seem to find…

Kim shot a hand into her pocket, pulled her Kimmunicator out, and hit the button. "Wade I need you to find something for me." She said without waiting.

Wade's image appeared on the screen. "Kim I would call you if I had any leads on Ron's whereabouts…"

"Not him. I need you to find me a school."

"A school?"

"Yes." Kim said nodding her head. "A certain school in Japan. If Ron has decided to suddenly go all ninja like and vanish into the shadows, who better to help find him?"

Wade blinked a few times. "That's not a bad idea. But it may take me time to find them. Yamanouchi does value its privacy after all."

"Do your best Wade." Kim said in dismissal and turned off her Kimmunicator.

Back at the lair with Harley and Ivy

Harley and Ivy searched the ruined lair looking for Ron. It wasn't like it took them all that long to gather what they thought they might need from the lair, after all, all they really had in this strange dimension was the clothing on their back and even that was no longer their original clothing but something that had been provided for them by Ron.

Ivy couldn't really explain to herself why she had decided for both her and Harley to stay with Ron and Shego. Normally she was a very independent person and would have left long ago to be on her own but there was something about Ron that seemed to bind her to his side. It wasn't merely that he was some kind of beacon in the strangeness that her life had become. No, Ivy long ago had become used to strangeness.

No, it was something about the man himself that attracted and kept Ivy with him. It couldn't be affection. Ivy had severed all ties of affection to humans long ago. As far as she was concerned humans didn't rate her affection, that was saved exclusively for her beloved plants.

Although in a small part of her soul Ivy admitted that if Harley were to leave her she would be devastated by it. So maybe a tiny part of her soul still had affection for some humans?

Was it respect? Was that why Ivy felt a connection with Ron? He was after all the only man Ivy had ever come across that had handled her in such a domineering fashion. Not even the 'great' batman had managed to pull her across his knee and just spank her like a misbehaving child.

Just remembering the way Ron had firmly spanked her caused Ivy to start becoming aroused all over again. That was another thing that concerned Ivy. She was the one who caused arousal in men and women, not the other way around. Even with Harley, it was more like Harley tried to seduce Ivy and Ivy 'allowed' it. But it was different  somehow with Ron, somehow Ron had simply climbed over Ivy's defenses as if he was some kind of creeping vine and Ivy had missed the signs completely till she was firmly overgrown by him.

Harley carrying a large object in her arms watched Ivy out of the corner of her eye as they walked. Even considering her fiasco with misjudging Bonnie, Harley was a very perceptive person and it was obvious to her what was going on with Ivy and Ron.

"Gee Red; you really love him don't you?" She asked suddenly.

"What?" Ivy asked, being pulled of her fantasies of her being tied to a sawhorse as Ron slowly whipped her and made her confess she was a bad girl that needed to be punished.

"You really love Ron don't you?" Harley sadly asked.

"Don't be silly Harley. You know that I only love one person and that is you."

Harley gave a sad laugh. "Don't try to fool me Red. I'm the expert on obsessions and hopeless love, remember? I used to give Mr. J. the same looks you give Ron when you don't think anyone is watching."

Ivy frowned and even though she didn't stop her pace going through the corridor, she turned her head to glare at Harley. "I am not giving Ron any looks."

"Oh no? Then why did you decide for the both of us that we would stay with him and Shego when he yelled at me?"

"Is this what this is all about? You are hurt and jealous that I didn't immediately jump to your defense back there? Harley your little joke with Bonnie was wrong. I usually go along with your jokes because it makes you so happy but in this case it was wrong and sooner or later your jokes are going to get us killed."

Harley sniffed as if about to cry. "You never let me dominate you like you allowed Ron to do."

Ivy finally stopped and grabbing a hold of Harley's arm, she made her stop as well and turned her to fully face her. "You never tried to."

Harley sniffed again. "I never knew that you got off on it so much." She replied.

Ivy looked away from Harley's eyes to stare at the floor of the hallway a moment. "Yeah, well… I didn't know I did either." She finally admitted. "Ron was the first person to ever dare to spank me. Not even my own parents ever did that. When I misbehaved as a child, they would just roll their eyes and order me to go outside and play in the flowers rather than have to deal with me." Ivy paused for a long time before turning her gaze back to her lover. "Do you want to leave? We can if you want to. We'll strike out on our own and make this world tremble at the names of Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn if that is what you want."

Harley shifted the large object she was carrying in her arms and then sighed. "No. The truth is… I like being around Ron too. He's….fun, well as long as he is not angry with me that is. Just as long as I know that I'm not losing you." 

Ivy reached out a hand and caressed Harley's cheek. "You aren't." She said and then leaned over and kissed her.

As they started down the corridor once again, Harley shot a sideways look at Ivy. "And maybe I can spank you some time?"

"Sure." Ivy readily agreed. "As long as I can tie you up in vines and tickle you till you scream my name afterwards."

Harley giggled. "Sounds like we have our first night in Vegas all planned then."

Entering the garage area, Harley and Ivy spied Ron sitting on some crates. As they watched Ron idly picked up a bolt from the floor and with glowing blue eyes he then flicked the bolt off his palm with his other hand. The bolt then zinged through the air to hit a steel beam on the ceiling and with a sound like a bullet ricocheting it deflected to fly and hit a distant wall, from there it shot across the room to hit the armored truck sitting in the garage to finally fly back to Ron's hand where he caught it without even looking, only to start the whole thing all over again.

"Um Ron?" Harley called out to get his attention. With a final flick of a finger, Ron caused the bolt to scream across the room to slam into the girder in the ceiling but this time it became embedded in the girder as if it was a hot knife and the girder was soft butter, Ron turned to fully look at Harley and Ivy and Harley sucked in a breath at the electric arc like blue glow in his eyes. A blink of the eyes and the blue glow was gone and Ron was looking at them with his normal brown eyes.

"We're ready to go any time you are." Harley finished even if her voice was a little uneven.

Ron nodded his head in acknowledgement. "We are waiting on Shego, she went to get us another vehicle."

Harley nodded her head and walking over she carefully lowered her heavy object to the floor. Ron glanced at it and then raised an eyebrow in her direction.

"The Pan dimensional vortex inducer? When did you recover that thing and better yet, why?"

"When you sprung us from Global Justice's jail cells and Shego ordered me and Ivy uptown, it was the one thing Global Justice kept asking us about so I figured it wouldn't hurt to keep it with us as a bargaining chip. You probably don't remember since you were under Ivy's lipstick at the time but when we left the labs, I ditched it in a flower bed near the entrance to the lab so it was easy to go back later and recover it."

"You do know that thing is highly unstable?" Ron asked.

"Aren't we all?" Harley replied in an attempt at humor.

Ron for his part just nodded his head and went back to staring at the doors to the hidden garage.

"Um Ronnie?" Harley asked after a long moment of silence.

"Yes?"

"Are we okay?" Harley finally asked.

Ron glanced at her and then sighed. "Yeah we are okay. At first, I was upset on how your 'joke' on Bonnie turned out but then I realized how could you know she was going to react that way? I've known Bonnie only slightly less longer than I have Kim and if I didn't know she would react that way, how could you? I guess in the end no one really knows another person completely."

Harley nodded and sitting down next to Ron she leaned against his side. "Yeah I know what you mean. I thought I knew Mr. J. like a book and then one day I saw the real him." She mused to herself.

More to take his mind off on what was taking Shego so long rather than he was really that interested, Ron looked over at Harley. "Mr. J? I think you mentioned that name once before. Who is that?"

Harley sighed and glanced over at Ivy but saw she was ignoring her. "Once upon a time, long ago and in a dimension far far away…" Harley began and giggled a little before growing serious once again. "I used to be a psychiatrist, a real head shrinker working in a mental asylum for the criminally insane." She turned to see Ron was looking at her with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah I know. Hard to believe but it is true. Anyway, one of the first cases they assigned me to work on was this homicidal maniac that looked like a clown, white face, green hair, huge smile stretching half way across his face. He had been a petty criminal until a chemical accident unhinged his mind and left him physically and mentally scarred by it. The man wouldn't acknowledge his real name but would only respond to the name The Joker." Harley sighed and rocked back and forth a moment. "I fell for him." She finally confessed.

"What?" Ron asked shocked.

Harley looked guilty for a second. "He was funny and he made me laugh." She tried to defend herself. "I knew it was wrong to get involved with a patient but at the same time in my life I went through some family problems and had no one else to talk to. Mr. J. er, I mean the Joker made me see that life is a joke and most of the time you are the punch line. I needed someone at that time and the Joker seemed to be that certain someone. He was the one that made the play on my name. You see…" Harley paused and then looked around as if to see if there was anyone listening in but of course, there was only Ron and Ivy who knew all about it around to hear her. "My real name is Harleen Quinzel. The Joker was the first person to point out to me how close that was to Harlequin, you know another name for a jester?" Harley gives a brief but humorless laugh. "It is also another name for fool, which brother believe me I was."

"I take it things didn't turn out too well?" Ron asked.

"Well I helped the Joker to escape from Arkham and went with him. Oh, at first it was a blast. Mr. J. could be really creative with his crimes and no one seemed to get too hurt, at least in the beginning."

Ivy snorted but didn't bother to correct her.

"But Mr. J. got more twisted and sick as he went along. When one of his little 'jokes' involved blowing up an orphanage full of kids inside, I kind of balked at it. This made him a wee bit annoyed with me."

Once again Ivy snorted but Harley ignored it.

"During one of the times I was on the outs with Mr. J. I ran into Ivy and pulled a few crimes with her. We found we had a few things in common and…" Harley allowed that to trail off.

"Mr. J. found out about us. While he would hardly ever touch me, well touch me as in romantically rather than just beat me that is, he couldn't stand knowing another could or would show me affection. It all kind of blew up one night when…" Harley drifted off and stared in silence at nothing.

"What?" Ron asked curious in spite of himself.

It was Ivy who answered him. "He beat Harley so bad she was half dead and then dumped her along with some garden trash at my hideout. He had stuck a note to her held on by her own dried blood that said if I wanted his leftovers I was welcome to the rubbish. I nursed Harley back to health and she has been with me ever since."

"Yeah, something like that kind of takes the romance out of a relationship." Harley muttered sadly about the Joker. "We would occasionally run across Mr. J. in our crimes. I mean Gotham is a big place but not that big."

"And every time we do he tries to kill you." Ivy replied, her voice thick with annoyance at Harley.

Once again, somewhat sadly Harley nods her head and says. "Yeah."

Ron placed an arm around Harley which he was glad to see she didn't recoil from him. "That explains why you were so frantic when you thought I was going to spank you."

"Yeah I guess I'm a little 'beat shy'."

"I would never beat or harm you Harley." Ron said tilting her head up to look at him.

"No matter how mad you got at me?" Harley asked in a small voice.

"Never."

With Shego and Rufus:

Rufus riding on Shego's shoulder looked curiously at her as they entered what looked like a typical junk yard on the outskirts of town. As they crept along the darkening lanes formed by piled high crushed cars Rufus could hear a TV somewhere playing what sounded like a news broadcast about the earlier bank robbery. When Rufus had heard Shego say she was going to get a car for them, Rufus had assumed she was going to steal a car on the street or off a car lot. What kind of vehicle they could find here was beyond the little naked mole rat

"I know what I'm doing." Shego suddenly whispered as if aware of the mole rat's misgivings. "What we need is something powerful and fast but doesn't look like it and to get something like that the best person to see is…"

"Seriously. What kind of dude commits a crime with a hat jammed down over the 'do?" A loud voice could be heard.

"The dew boss?" Another voice in question could be heard.

"Not dew as in moisture on the grass dude. Seriously. I mean the 'do as in hairdo. Seriously, every criminal knows you must let your hair go free when committing a crime!"

Rufus turned to make sure Shego saw him out of the corner of her eye and folded his arms.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm not a fan of Ed's either but we aren't going to ask him nicely if we can borrow one of his souped up cars, we are just going to take one of them." Shego whispered to Rufus.

Suddenly bright lights flooded the area Shego was sneaking in and revealed Motor Ed and his gang a few yards away.

"Whoa Shego babe." Ed greeted her. "What brings your most delicious babeage out here this night, seriously?"

"Do you have to use that word in every sentence?" Shego asked instead.

"What? Seriously?" Ed seemed to consider for a moment. "Yeah, seriously I do."

Shego sighed. "Well I had to ask." She stated before flinging fireballs in Ed's and his gang's direction to disperse them. Picking a direction at random Shego ran down the maze that was Ed's wrecking yard. Looking at Rufus out of the corner of her eye Shego said to him. "You take the high road and I'll take the low road. If you find out where Ed has his stash of tricked out cars give me a yell."

Rufus nodded his head and with a leap, he was on top of the crushed cars making the lanes and was away.

"Seriously Shego, what does that scrawny dude got that I haven't?" Ed's voice called out far too close for Shego's comfort. In the distance, she could hear the revving of heavy duty motors beginning.

"You mean outside of a better body, more intelligent and smells better than you do? He has better hair!" Shego yelled back.

"Hey! No disrespecting the mullet!" Ed's enraged voice called out. Shego only had a moment's notice to dive to the side as the stack of cars nearest her suddenly overturned and a monster truck pushed over the top of them.

"You would make a much better seat cover than a hood ornament!" Motor Ed called out from the cab of the truck as he stuck his head out the window to call to a running Shego. "Why don't you just hop in here and be my trucking babe and forget scrawny?"

"Would rather date a muskrat. They have better hair." Shego yelled back over her shoulder as she tossed a fireball at Ed's truck. The fireball hit the front of the truck but merely fizzled.

"In addition to having the grill chromed I had it plasma proofed too." Ed called out.

"Damn." Shego muttered as she turned and ran for her life. Sure, she was tough but no one could stand up to being driven over by a two ton vehicle.

Just as Shego feared she was going to get cornered by Ed she noticed Rufus standing on a wrecked car. This car hadn't been completely crushed down and almost was in normal shape. At the small mole rat's urging Shego threw herself through the open passenger window of the car and quickly squirmed leapt out the other side.

Following the scampering Rufus Shego quickly found herself in a square at the center of the wrecking yard's maze. Various pimped out vehicles were sitting there. Everything from an ice cream truck that had mounted on top of it machine guns to a Cadillac that looked like it belonged to the king of pimps. It even had chandeliers mounted on the hood. Finally Shego spotted what she was looking for, a white innocent looking panel van that the only signs it had of being 'Ed ified' was the dual exhaust tubes coming out of the rear. If Shego knew Ed, and she did, she would just bet that the van had a reinforced body and a super heavy motor installed. She started across to the van but was stopped as Ed in his monster truck pulled in front of her.

Ed leapt from his truck and before Shego could react, had swept her into his arms and was holding her with her arms pinned.

"Whatcha going to do now babe? Seriously?"

As Shego struggled to free herself, Rufus quickly scampered up Ed's leg and ended up sitting on top of Ed's head.

"Yo little naked dude! What do you think you are going to do up there?" Ed asked trying to hang on to Shego all the while trying to peer up at his own scalp.

Rufus reached around behind him and produced a can of lighter fluid and started spritzing it on Ed's hair.

"Dude! Not the 'do. Seriously! Not cool to mess with a man's mullet!"

Once again, Rufus reached around behind him and produced a lighter.

"Dude. You wouldn't. Seriously?"

Rufus seemed to ponder for a moment and then nodding his head he flicked the lighter into life and touched it to Ed's fuel soaked hair as he leapt off. The hair immediately flared into flames.

Ed instantly released Shego as he tried to snuff the flames with his bare hands. "The mullet dude. Save the mullet!" He shouted as he ran around.

Shego not wasting a moment longer leapt into the van. Being a criminal, she knew how to hotwire a car but that took precious time. Rufus leaping in through the open driver's window landed on the steering wheel and looked at Shego for a moment before leaping upwards and catching the sun guard shade to cause it to pull downwards. A set of keys slide off the shade and landed in Shego's open hands.

Shego looked at Rufus for a moment before nodding her head. "Right. Let's get out of here."

As Shego pulled out, she looked in the rear view mirror and saw that one of Ed's henchmen was trying to helpfully smother his boss's flaming head by beating the flames out. Unfortunately, the not so smart guy was trying to do it with a 2 x 4. Almost as if in a cartoon Shego watched as the henchman brought the hunk of wood down on Ed's head and Ed muttered in a daze. "Dude, not the way. Seriously." As he slumped to the ground. Fortunately into a puddle of water putting his hair out, unfortunately, not before a good deal of his hair had been scorched.

AAAA

Author's notes:

AAAA

Wow each chapter seems to get longer.

So, Kim is going to seek the ninjas help to bring Ron back into the fold of Justice?

Ron has faced some of his dark desires and been starlted to find just how dark they can be.

Shego is even more in love with Ron with his flaws than she was before.

And Ivy and Harley look forward to Vegas while Motor Ed has to learn to deal with the scorched hair look for a while.

And what about poor Bonnie? Will she ever be the same again? Will she want to?

No, seriously I'm asking you guys cause I have no idea where this story is going. I'm just along for the ride as it writes itself. LOL


	12. Chapter 12

Partners in Crime

By Weirdbard

Chapter 12

Dr. Director sat drumming her fingers against her desk anxiously. It had been three days since Kim had stormed out of global justice and no one seemed to be able to find her, it seemed like she had dropped off the face of the map completely. Attempts to contact Wade to locate her had failed and to top it off Ron, Shego, Harley Quinn and Ivy had made a clean escape and then come to find out they had been hiding almost under the very noses of Global Justice itself? This past week was definitely not one of Global Justice's better showings.

"The patient Bonnie can see you now." The intercom on her desk suddenly crackled into life startling her. Shortly after Kim stormed out of Global Justice offices, they had gotten a tip that Bonnie was located at one of Drakken's old lairs, a lair that it turned out had been only about three hour's drive from GJ's secret headquarters. Sending a team out they found Bonnie tied to a chair in an old kitchen of the destroyed lair. The ex-cheerleader refused to talk to anyone at the time of her rescue so Dr. Director had her sent to the medics for a complete examination and evaluation and today was the first day that the doctor in charge would allow Dr. Director to interview her. The doctor had put her off stating Bonnie was exhausted both physically and emotionally and needed her rest. Dr. Director had been so lost in thought she had forgotten she had earlier asked the doctor to let her know as soon as Bonnie was capable of answering a few questions.

They had tried to contact her family that was on vacation but upon reaching them, the family had only inquired whether she was still alive or not and when told that she was, they seem to have lost all interest and told Dr. Director to tell Bonnie that they would be back from vacation at the regularly scheduled time and not to forget to feed someone named Missy. Dr. Director had been chilled by the callous reaction of the family and thought the only other persons she had known that had acted in a similar manner and under similar circumstances towards a family member was Ron Stoppable's own parents.

"Please send her in." Dr. Director said to the intercom. Looking at the gold fish in a bowl on her desk staring at her, Dr. Director said. "Maybe now we can finally get some answers." The fish however had no reply and with a final fishy look at her turned and continued to swim.

Dr. Director studied Bonnie as she walked in and calmly sat down across from her. Bonnie having not gone home was still wearing the clothing she had been wearing when she had been found and other than the clothing being slightly wrinkled and dirty, Dr. Director decided she didn't look like she had 

suffered unduly from her imprisonment with Ron and his gang. Oh sure, she had had a few rope marks on her ankles and arms when they found her, but considering she had been captive of two unknown psychos i.e., Harley and Ivy and one with a known bad temper. I.e. Shego, Dr. Director was impressed with how little injuries the woman had managed to get away with.

Bonnie said nothing in way of greeting, but stared calmly at the woman across the desk from her.

"I imagine that you are eager to bring Ron and his group to justice for his kidnapping of you?" Dr. Director began the interrogation.

"I'm afraid that there's not much I can tell you." Bonnie replied. "My eyes were kept covered the entire time I was in M m m…. Ron's possession, he only uncovered my eyes right before he left. I had no idea where I was and heard nothing that can give you any clues on M m m… Ron's next actions."

Dr. Director steepled her fingers and looked at the woman skeptically. "I find that odd. After all, weren't you and Ron old friends?"

"M m … Ron and I were never what you call friends." Bonnie replied stumbling over his name again. "I always thought of him as more of a loser that hung around Kim than anything else." The words were dismissive but Dr. Director thought Bonnie's eyes lit up a bit every time she mentioned Ron's name.

"Several times now you seemed like you were about to say something that begins with an m, may I ask what that was?" Dr. Director asked leaning forward to stare at the woman. She didn't know why, but she got the feeling the woman was lying to her about nothing happening while she was in Ron's control.

"I started to call him a moron, but then remembered he's managed to avoid capture by your group for a while now so he can't be that stupid." Bonnie replied annoyed with herself for her slips of tongue.

Dr. Director shifted uncomfortably in her chair; Bonnie's words were certainly not something she had wanted to hear but at the same time, she couldn't and wouldn't get into an argument with the ex-cheerleader on how Ron had outsmarted Global Justice, mostly because Dr. Director feared she would lose that argument. Ron had indeed managed to make Global Justice and by extension her, look foolish and unprofessional.

"We have video footage of the bank robbery and on it clearly can be seen you begging Ron to take you with them. This hardly seems like the action of a woman who considers Ron a loser." She came back with in an annoyed voice.

Bonnie shrugged. "What can I say I was bored at the time and thought the robbery promised action and a way to relieve my boredom?"

"I could say you were an accomplice to a bank robbery." Dr. Director replied.

Once again, Bonnie shrugged in unconcern. "We can let news stations decide who was a victim and who was an accomplice. After all, I was a rich girl that was held hostage, while your Kim ended up playing with plants."

This brought an almost imperceptible wince from Dr. Director. She had of course had reviewed the videotape footage from the bank robbery and admittedly Kim did not come off looking too good. She had been made to look like a fool by Harley. "So you saw nothing, heard nothing and have no clues on where Ron is now?"

Bonnie nodded her head. "Truly, I'm sorry that I could not be of more help but I was kept in the dark the entire time."

"Well, then I guess you're free to go home but we may be in contact with you again, if anything new comes up. Oh and it maybe in your best interest to avoid any news agencies or mention Global Justice to anyone. No threats. Just pointing out it could overly complicate your life if you were to do it." Dr. Director said rising from her chair. "Oh and by the way, your parents wanted me to tell you that they don't plan on coming back any sooner than they had originally planned and not to forget to feed Missy." Dr. Director said to see her reaction.

Bonnie gave a half shrug. "I didn't really expect that they would change their plans for me." Was Bonnie's only reply.

As soon as Bonnie left her office, Dr. Director was on the intercom. Within moments several agents were in her office, among them Will Du.

"I want you Will to search our records for any more known destroyed bases of Drakken's. I doubt they would be so brazen as to use the same trick twice but we can't take a chance. Not with this group. I also want you to send another crew into the ruined base we found Rockwaller in, Go over it with a fine tooth comb and see if we can find any leads on where they went."

Du nodded his head. "Shall we send a team to keep an eye on Rockwaller in case she tries to get in touch with Stoppable and his group again?"

Dr. Director considered for a long moment. "No. While I have this feeling that Rockwaller is lying to me about nothing happening when she was in their possession, I also get the feeling she honestly doesn't know where they went and I doubt Ron would risk contacting her now. After all, if there was something between them he would have simply taken her with him when they left. No, I'm pretty sure Rockwaller is a dead end when it comes to find Stoppable and his gang and the last thing we need is for her to discover she is being watched and go to the news media about us."

Dr. Director then turned her attention to one of the other agents. "Agent Jones, I want you to return to Drakken's time share lair and bring him in. He may still have some insight to where Shego might go. He himself may not know it but give us enough time and we'll know everything he does.

The agents all nodded their heads in understanding and quickly left Dr. Director's office.

Sinking down into her chair Dr. Director stared at the fish in the bowl as it swam and wished all that she had to worry about was whether someone was going to feed her and change the water in her bowl.

Bonnie kept her head held high as she was escorted by an agent of Global Justice out of their headquarters and back to her home. At first, Bonnie feared the man was going to try and follow her into her house but the agent merely stopped at the door and with a nod of his head turned around and left. Bonnie paused at her front door for a long moment trying to hear if there was anyone in the nearby 

shrubbery watching her but finally decided she truly was alone. Reaching in a pocket of her skirt, she pulled out her keys and quickly unlocked the door, stepped inside and shut and locked the door behind her.

The first thing to greet Bonnie as she turned from the front door was her sister Lonnie's snobby cat Missy. The pure white Siamese cat was sitting in the middle of the living room and seemed to look down its nose at her in scorn, even though Bonnie towered over the small creature. Bonnie hated the animal almost as much she hated her own sister, the cat's owner. As if in a daze, Bonnie walked past the cat into the kitchen and dumped the expensive and imported dry cat food down for the cat. After all that was one of the reasons why Bonnie had been left out of the family vacation. Someone had to stay home to take care of the pampered beast. A brief look at the automated water dish revealed the cat still had plenty of clean exclusive bottled water to drink.

MIssy walked over and took one sniff of its food and turned her nose up, flipped her tail and walked away, Bonnie knew that the cat just like her owner Lonnie would sneak back later when it thought no one was watching and gorge itself on the food and then try to act like it hadn't been the one to eat a bite. Many a time Bonnie had been accused by her mother of emptying the refrigerator of food because it couldn't be Lonnie or Connie who had done it because they 'ate like birds'.

"_More like freaking vultures." _Bonnie would always silently mutter to herself at those times.

Bonnie with still with the blank emotionless face she had worn since being 'rescued' by Global Justice walked into the living room and sitting down at the couch, put her hands up to her face and finally being alone for the first time since Ron had walked out and left her, she broke down and started sobbing uncontrollably.

"Why did my Master reject me? Am I not good enough for him to even want to keep me to punish me? Am I so hopeless that he felt there was no chance for him to improve me with his corrections?" Bonnie cried. Bonnie cried and sobbed for a good ten minutes before finally managing to regain control. Angrily she rubbed the tears out of her eyes and tried to logically figure out why Ron had basically thrown her away.

"_He said he liked my tan and my legs so it isn't because he finds me hideous or fat."_ Bonnie thought to herself. Reaching down she pulled the edge of her blouse up to look at her abs. Even though her High School years were behind her, Bonnie had managed to not lose much of her cheerleader physique. Her abs were still firm, flat and well defined. Letting go of the shirt Bonnie allowed her hands to continue to rise till she could clutch her breasts through her blouse material. Her breasts were still very firm and for lack of a better word, perky, so she doubted Ron found them disagreeable. So what was it that made Ron leave her? Why her while the other women around Ron were allowed to stay in his presence?

"_First there is Shego, a known criminal with light green skin that can throw green fireballs around. Sure, that made her unique but was that all there was to it? Then there were the two newcomers that Bonnie had never heard of before. She had heard their names mentioned at the bank robbery so she knew what they were called, Ivy and Harley. Ivy had the same light green tinted skin like Shego so maybe it was their exotic skin that appealed and attracted the Master's interest?"_

Bonnie thought for a moment but then shook her head. _"That doesn't explain Harley then". _Sure she had some kind of weird white face on during the robbery but Bonnie could smell the grease paint when the woman had picked her up so it wasn't some kind of weird natural skin coloring like Shego and Ivy had and Bonnie had the feeling that if you were to take the face paint off of Harley there would be a very normal looking woman underneath it all.

"_All three women were criminals. Maybe that is what attracts and holds the Master's interest? Maybe Ron is attracted to the bad girls?"_ Once again, Bonnie shook her head. That might explain the three new women in Ron's life but it didn't explain Kim. Ron had for years followed after Kim and there wasn't a more 'straight arrow' in the world than that stuck up bitch.

"_All of them are strong women." _Bonnie thought to herself. _"But I'm strong and athletic too!" _Bonnie thought in annoyance but then she remembered the way Harley had made Kim look like such a fool at the bank and she had to admit she wasn't that athletic. _"Is that it?" _Once again, Bonnie thought long and hard before shaking her head. _"I think I'm close to the answer but still not there. Let's see, unique, attractive, strong, athletic and criminal, what else is there about those women?"_ As Bonnie thought, she idly reached up and felt tears on her cheek again but this time in frustration rather than grief. _"I bet those women never cry and embarrass Ron like this."_ Bonnie's eyes grew wide.

"_What was it that Ivy woman said at the bank to Kim about Ron and the rest of them? 'That they had spent a creative evening together. A bit painful but creative.' And she had smiled about it. Oh god, that's it! All of it put together! Shego, Harley, Ivy and even Kim wouldn't have begged and pleaded for Ron not to use and hurt them. They would have taken the punishment and enjoyed it, perhaps even laugh or smile while he punishes them. I let my Master down in the beginning when I cried and begged him not to hurt me! Ron had even given me a chance to recover from my weakness by asking if I didn't deserve the punishment. I should have smiled and told him I was eager for him to do whatever he wanted to me!"_ Bonnie thought for a moment. True she had later told Ron he could do to her whatever he thought she deserved but by that point, it had been too late. Bonnie was now convinced that Ron had been disgusted with her for her weakness, for her rejection of his correcting her. With the revelation instead of new tears came relief and Bonnie leaned back into the couch.

"So all I have to do is become more unique, a criminal and never ever show weakness around the Master again. Once I have done all that, the Master is bound to see that I'm worthy to be his slave!"

The strength part wasn't all that hard, she could join a gym and seriously work out to improve herself. She didn't even doubt that her parents would gladly pay the money for the gym if only to get her out from under their feet and out of the house more.

"Now how to become a unique criminal?" Bonnie pondered. "I will need a strange name and a costume. All the 'super villains' seem to have strange names and costumes and frankly Bonnie doesn't exactly conjure feelings of the strange, mysterious or dangerous." As Bonnie continued to think out loud Lonnie's cat Missy jumped on the arm of the couch and gave a disgusted look only a cat could pull off in Bonnie's direction. Obviously, the annoying creature wanted Bonnie to move so the small animal could have the entirety of the couch to lie on.

Bonnie looked at the cat for a moment without really seeing it as she furiously thought. "I could dress up like a cat." Bonnie finally said as she noticed the animal staring at her. "I could call myself…. Catwoman!" Bonnie thought for a moment and then angrily shook her head. "That's insane. Who would take seriously a woman dressed up like a cat and calling themselves Catwoman? I have to really put some thought into this. The next time I meet the Master I have to blow him away with my unique bad girl image so he'll forget my earlier shame and agree to take me on as his next slave!"

AAAA

Meanwhile in Japan:

AAAA

Kim with effort pulled herself up over a rocky cliff and looked around. She found herself on top of a windswept bare rocky mountain top. Frowning she pulled out her Kimmunicator and checked the longitude and latitude readings. According to Wade's directions, she should be standing in the middle of the Yamanouchi School at this instant. Kim let out a long sigh. It was obvious what was wrong. Wade even though a genius was still not perfect and he must have made a mistake. After all the Yamanouchi school was a school for ninjas, people who dressed up in black pajama like costumes and went about waving ancient weapons. It was impossible for them to somehow have some high tech way of messing up Wade's satellite reports. No, sadly it was just more proof to Kim no matter how smart Wade appeared at times, he was still imperfect like everyone else. Kim was just about to press the button on her Kimmunicator so she could explain Wade's mistake to him when she caught sight of something out of the corner of her eye. Turning her head, she saw standing out in plain sight in the middle of the rocky mountain top was a lone figure dressed in black ninja garb. Kim knew with a certainty that the figure hadn't been there a moment ago and she couldn't really tell if it was a man or a woman under that ridiculous getup.

"Hello?" Kim called out. The figure in black just continued to stand and stare at her silently.

"I'm looking for the Yamanouchi School." Kim said feeling annoyed on having to explain herself. I mean why else would someone be standing on a mountain top in Japan talking to someone dressed all in black unless they were looking for a ninja school?

The figure in black reached up and taking a hold of the black hood covering their face and pulled it off to reveal Yori looking at her. "Greetings Possible-san. You will please follow me?"

Before Kim could reply, the figure was already in motion springing from rock to rock and quickly leaving Kim behind. Grumbling Kim raced to keep up with the lone ninja woman, as she seemed to drift from rock to rocky outcropping. Yori lead Kim down the mountain she had just climbed up and up the steep slopes of the next mountain, through a tunnel through that mountain to a small plateau and then up another mountain slope, always staying a few yards ahead of Kim.

As a huffing and puffing Kim finally caught up to Yori she found the woman was standing calmly and breathing easily just outside of the walls of Yamanouchi. "Finally." Kim breathed a sigh of relief as she 

slumped down on a large rock outside the walls next to Yori. "I can't understand how Wade could get his directions off so badly." She added after she managed to catch her breath.

Yori had a placid smile on her face. "Yamanouchi is hard to find if you are not invited to come here."

Kim chose to ignore the subtle warning she thought she heard in that sentence. "I come for a very important reason…."

"You have come about Stoppable-san." A deep sonorous voice called out as Sensei stepped out from the entrance to the school.

Kim remembered to bow in his direction. "Yes Sensei, you see Ron has…"

"Taken a path you feel is not the correct one?" Sensei replied.

Kim frowned. "You could say that. He's somehow let himself be forced into becoming a villain."

Sensei's face remained inscrutable but he gave a soft sigh. "Why do you feel that Stoppable-san has been forced as you put it into walking the path of a criminal?"

"Of course he was forced or is being controlled into becoming a villain. What other explanation could there be for him turning evil? Only evil people refuse to follow laws and rules."

The Sensei continued to stare serenely at Kim for a moment before asking. "You are aware of what type of school Yamanouchi is Possible-san?"

"Of course, it is a ninja school so what?" Kim asked a bit peeved. She had came to them for help in recovering Ron and the head of the school wanted to waste time asking her dumb questions?

"Correct. A ninja school not a samurai school."

Kim stared at him blankly for a moment. "So, what's the difference? Both schools teach martial arts and a little philosophy. What's the big difference between the two?"

"A samurai school would stress devotion to authority and that one does not cross the laws and rules you just mentioned. Ninja schools teach that the end objective is what is important and to do whatever is necessary to accomplish the goal. Whatever is necessary."

Kim's eyes grew wide. "You don't care that Ron has become a villain?"

"It is not that we don't care Possible-san." Yori answered her. "It is just that we do not see it as the absolute horror you do. Ron-san is the chosen one of prophecy. He is the ordained one that will save the planet from great evil someday and for him to do such there are certain skills and mindsets he must master and to do that it may require that he act in an unorthodox manner."

"And you think him becoming a villain will lead him to these skills?" Kim practically yelled at her. "What kind of skills or mindsets do you think Ron becoming a villain could lead him to that he couldn't find at my side doing good?" Kim rose to her feet to try and stare down the ninja woman in front of her.

"Was not Robin Hood a criminal?" Sensei asked calmly. "And yet he only came to be the hero he was after he became a wanted criminal."

"Robin Hood was fictional and he was fighting injustice, not helping to create more of it!" Kim shouted at the Sensei of Yamanouchi.

Normally Kim would have been very polite and respectful of her elders, as a perfect person should be, but this was bordering on the insane. These people seemed to think that it was not only all right that Ron had become a villain but that it was necessary for his development in some way. Kim feeling a sense of danger looked around and noticed the before empty walls of Yamanouchi now had figures clad in dark clothing standing on them staring silently at her. Out of the corner of her eyes, she could see more such figures on the rocks outside the school. The implication was clear, they were letting her know that she was surrounded and they didn't appreciate her raising her voice at their master.

"Look." Kim said in a calmer voice. "There are no talents or skills Ron could possibly learn at the hands of the criminal types he his hanging around with that he couldn't learn by my side doing the right thing."

The Sensei sadly shook his head. "You are wrong Possible-san. Ron is now learning to trust his own instincts, he is learning of his dark side and not to fear it but how to co-exist with it, he is learning far more of his powers and abilities than he could ever have done by your side and he is learning that sometimes one must do things one dreads if one is to accomplish a task."

"Rubbish!" Kim growled. "Ron is being empty headed as usual and allowing himself to be swayed by some evil women. What do they know that I don't?"

"If the need was great enough they can kill. Could you say the same of yourself?" Sensei replied calmly.

"Kill?! Why would Ron need to learn that? Ron is not some kind of assassin!" Kim shouted again.

"Ron is destined to stop an evil you cannot even imagine from destroying this world. To do so, he may have to kill or destroy, as he is now, he could never do this task. We ninjas have many mottos and among them is this one. Better to kill one than allow hundreds to suffer."

Kim stared at the kind grandfatherly looking old man in front of her in horror. Sure in the back of her head she knew ninjas weren't exactly known as the 'white hats' in the world but to hear him so calmly state that murder could ever be acceptable or desirable was more than she could take."

"Ron will never learn that lesson, I will find him and bring him back to justice before he could ever become that twisted or evil and I will do it with or without your help!"

Sensei sighed. "Regrettably, it will be without our help. Young Stoppable-san is treading the path of destiny and Yamanouchi will not be responsible for helping to pull him from that path." The man fixed her with his calm stare. "You are going to have to accept that Ron is on his own path. Searching for his own ' state of perfection' and not yours."

Kim stared at the Sensei in shock. "You are insane. Ron trusted and respected you. He felt you would never betray or steer him wrong and now I see you don't really care about Ron at all. You are just using him to fulfill some idiotic prophecy!"

"You have not found what you thought to here Possible-san, may I suggest you leave?" Sensei still with his calm and unperturbed voice replied.

Kim nodded her head angrily and turning stomped off the way she had came.

"Wait a moment and then follow to make sure Possible-san finds her way down the mountain safely but make sure the path is so confusing she will not attempt it again without an invitation or a guide." Sensei said quietly to Yori.

Yori nodded her head and was silent for a moment. "Sensei?" She finally asked.

"You have doubts as well about the welfare of Stoppable-san?" The Sensei answered.

Yori nodded her head. "Are you sure Stoppable-san embracing the path of a, how did Possible-san put it, a villain is the necessary path he must take?"

Sensei nodded his head. "Our young Stoppable-san was like a young sapling growing in the shade of a mighty oak tree. He will never develop his own strengths until he was free from Possible-san's influence."

"But what if Stoppable-san were to try to take over the world like so many other villains before him have tried?" Yori asked anxiously.

Sensei was silent so long that Yori feared he was not going to answer but finally he spoke. "I wonder if it would be so bad if he were to take over the world?" he mused out loud.

Sensei could see his number one student staring at him in shock. "Governments come and go Yori. Some good, some bad, what gives one more right to rule than another? Even if Stoppable-san were to cross the line and try to rule over everyone, it would not change who he is at his core. He would still be the one who worries more about another's welfare than he does his own. He would be the one sleepless at night as he planned and plotted on how to improve the lot of everyone else. Stoppable-san may appear to many as, how do Americans put it, a slacker? But he has at his core the finest steel in him. When a task requires effort, he does not hide from the effort but embraces it and succeeds no matter what the cost. This is something that Possible-san has not and maybe never will see."

"Yes Sensei." Yori replied respectfully. "What of the women that are with him now?"

"Ah yes. Shego, the woman touched by the stars with her powers and the two newcomers from beyond our dimension. Not only may they be the ones to teach Stoppable-san of the skills and abilities he may need but he in turn may teach them what they never knew they needed as well."

Yori gave no outwardly signs but Sensei knew she was still highly agitated. "There is more you wish to ask?"

"Is it true that the one known as Shego is the one mentioned to be at the side of Stoppable-san as he fulfils his destiny?" She asked sadly.

Sensei softened his glance ever so slightly. To anyone else he would still be as inscrutable as ever but to Yori who knew him almost since her birth it was a look of complete compassion and regret for her. "I am sorry Yori, I know how much you yearn for Stoppable-san but yes Shego is the one. Many may share their bodies with Ron and he in turn will share his with them but no one will share his soul as does Shego."

Yori sighed. "I should go to make sure that Possible-san makes her way down the mountain now. I have given her enough of a head start." Yori suddenly had the tiniest of smiles quirk her lips. "Would it not be advisable for someone from the school to keep an eye on Ron-san?"

Sensei studied the young woman standing next to him out of the corner of his eye. "Odd that you should suggest such a thing after I state that the chosen one may share his body with many." He stated.

Yori blushed. "Um, that has nothing to do with it Master."

"Indeed? Then know that of course Stoppable-san is under surveillance by our organization as he always has been."

"Oh?" Yori replied crestfallen.

"However…" Sensei said and then paused. "Possible-san's obsession with capturing Stoppable-san does worry me. Not just for his sake but for Possible-san's as well. She may very well take it too far and endanger or harm herself. I have decided I want you to follow her as she makes her way back to the United States and takes up the search for him again."

Yori didn't look too enthused with her task, as it was Ron she wanted to watch; not Kim but she nodded her head anyway.

"And if she gets too close to finding the chosen one and interfering with his path then you may contact Stoppable-san to warn him and join him then." Sensei finished.

Yori's eyes lit up. "Yes Sensei." She replied in a happy voice. Without further comment, she left to track Kim and to make her journey down the mountain a little more difficult and confusing but at the same time as quick as she could. After all, the sooner Kim got close to finding Ron, the closer Yori was to seeing him again.

AAAA

Back at Global Justice:

AAAA

Agent Jones nervously stood outside Dr. Director's office. Raising a hand he started to knock before lowering his hand again.

"_She is not going to be happy when she hears this news." _The man thought to himself.

Finally steeling his nerves the agent raised his hand to knock on the door just as the door opened to reveal Dr. Director standing there. The woman took several steps back finding one of her agents at her door with his fist raised in the air near her face and glared at him to cover her start.

"What is it Jones?" She asked a bit snappishly. She had been just about to go out to get a bite to eat and seeing her agent standing there practically shaking, she knew he didn't have good news to tell her.

"I am sorry to report Dr. Director that when we went back to the time share lair Dr. Drakken was using we found out that he has cleared out. All the boxes with his name on it are gone."

Dr. Director briefly closed her eyes and could feel a sour feeling creeping over her stomach. Global Justice couldn't even keep Dr. Drakken from slipping from their grips now? "Did you find nothing at all there?"

Agent Jones looked like he wished he was anywhere in the universe at that moment than standing before her. "Just a note on the ruins of the front door telling the owner of the property to charge the cost of the repairs to us and our mailing address?"

Dr. Director sighed and reaching up she massaged her temples. "How did Drakken find our mailing address? The last I checked we are suppose to be a SECRET police organization. Are we not?"

Jones shifted on his feet nervously. "I don't know Dr. Director. I mean yes we are a secret organization. I just don't know how Drakken got our mailing address."

"Did you at least take the note down?"

The agent turned even paler. "Um, no I didn't think to."

Dr. Director took a long slow deep breath and said through clenched teeth. "Go back there and remove that sign before anyone sees it."

"Yes maam!" Agent Jones replied and saluted her. Turning on his heel he practically ran from her.

AAAA

Somewhere in the Nevada desert just outside of the bright lights of Las Vegas:

AAAA

A long black limo was driving down a dusty private road. Inside the limo were three women and two men in the passenger section while a lone driver was in the front compartment with the window between the two compartments rolled up tightly.

One of the women in the luxurious passenger compartment was wearing a light blue blouse and a floral skirt that was a respectful length and came down over her knee. Matching high heeled blue shoes finished her fashion. With her blond hair brushed out and hanging straight framing a young exuberant face not covered by white makeup no one back at Arkham would have recognized Harley at first glance.

Sitting next to her was a woman dressed in form hugging blue jeans and a light blue blouse that almost matched Harley's Oddily instead of clashing, the blue only helped to accent the woman's brilliant flaming red hair that was covered by a large straw sun hat. If someone were to get up extremely close to her face, they might have noticed the light covering of makeup that helped to hide the green tint of her skin but of course, Ivy would never allow anyone to get that intimately close to her unless it was Harley, Ron or Shego.

Shego sat on the other side of Ivy and was wearing of all things a completely out of character pink frilly blouse and a moderately long cream colored skirt. The only concession Shego would go towards disguising her features however was a light dusting of makeup to cover her green skin as well and a pair of sunglasses.

Ron sat across from the three women with the other man sitting next to him. Ron was dressed in a very fine dark Italian cut suit that fairly screamed out, I have money and am not afraid to use it. A dark pair of sunglasses covered his eyes as well.

The man sitting next to him was dressed in typical realtor clothing, that being fairly cheap but with at least an attempt to look expensive brown suit.

"So you say you are all related? Brother and sisters?" The man asked as the limo sped down the road.

Ron nodded his head. "Different fathers but the same mother." He replied

"Ah I see that explains why none of you look very much alike. And your parents recently died?"

Once again, Ron nodded his head casually. "Tragic accident at a family reunion but at least they left enough money and resources behind for me to look after my sisters and ensure they continue to live in the comfort they have become accustomed to."

"Oh I can assure you that you will all be comfortable in the Walitz' estate. It was built by the Casino owner Robert Walitz for his family ten years ago and he put in every comfort he could think of that his family might need or want."

"Out in the middle of a desert? Why not in Las Vegas proper?" Harley asked interrupting the man's obviously rehearsed selling spiel.

The man frowned slightly in annoyance before plastering a fake smile back on his face. "You see the man's wife was slightly anti-social as well as a bit of an environmentalist. She didn't believe in disturbing the natural order of a place by building houses on them. So the Walitz estate is all underground. 

Minimal damage was done to the surrounding grounds as the house was put in and everything was made to look natural afterwards."

"Hmm, I think I like this man's wife already." Ivy muttered to herself.

"If it is such a nice place, why they selling it?" Harley asked.

"Walitz encountered some trouble with some of his fellow casino backers. There was an accident and Mrs. Walitz decided it would be healthier for her and her family to move back east. Oh I do believe we should be able to see the place now." The man said pointing out the window as the Limo made a wide slow turn.

Looking out the window Shego could see no structures at all, which wasn't that surprising since the man had said the home was underground. A flat sandy area with the usual desert plants such as a few cactuses was all that could be seen but as the limo continued its turn and started down a slight incline, Shego could make out what looked like a small lake with a gazebo like structure on an island in the center of the lake.

"The house is the structure on the island?" Harley asked. "It looks very small."

"Oh no. that is just the entrance to the underground home." The realtor laughed. He pointed at two strangely glittering sand dunes just outside the lake. "See those? Those are the only visible parts of the vast underground greenhouses that Mrs. Walitz had her husband put in."

"Greenhouses?" Ivy asked perking up and leaning forward looked past Shego out the limo's windows.

"Yes. Mrs. Walitz was a fanatic for English Tea Roses. Nearly impossible of course to grow in the desert so she had her husband put in environmentally controlled greenhouses and had soil brought here from England itself so she could raise them."

Ivy looked over at Ron. "Without seeing anything more, I already like this place a lot Ronnie."

The real estate agent looked in confusion at Ron. "I thought you said your name was Theodore?"

Ron replied without a twitch. "It is. When we were children, Karen could never pronounce Theodore so out of the blue one day she started calling me Ronnie. No one knows where she got that name from but the nickname stuck and to this day, she still calls me that."

"Oh. I guess that makes sense. I know my brother never calls me by my real name either and always uses a nickname he gave me."

"What is the nickname?" Harley asked curiously.

"Um, it is not a name I can repeat around ladies. My brother and I never really got along that well." The man explained a bit sheepishly.

"Oh that is a shame." Ivy said leaning forward. "Our family has always been very close and I can't even imagine not being so."

"Yeah one big happy family." Shego agreed but with the slightest of frowns directed at Ivy.

Parking the limo the driver then escorted the ladies and two gentlemen out to a small dock where a motorized skiff waited to take them to the island. After crossing the lake the driver stayed behind with the skiff as the group made their own way up the slightly inclined island to where a large grandiose gazebo like structure waited. The building was octagonal in nature with glass windows that faced the lake in all directions. Two dragon statues guarded the entrance to the building; Harley idly petted the statues as the group climbed up the stairs to the main doors.

The inside of the gazebo had leather couches arranged so one could lounge and admire the lake while at the center of the building was a platform with a brass railing around it. The realtor agent led Ron and his group to this and after making sure everyone was on the platform with him, he shut the bass railing gate and pressed a single button on a raised podium on the platform. Harley gave a brief start as the platform shuddered slightly before smoothly descending down.

"Exactly how far down is the main part of the house?" She asked.

"About a hundred feet I'm afraid." The realtor answered her. "You see they went that far down to accommodate the lake. "But really you can't even tell you are that far underground." He added in fears that he was about to lose the sale.

Ron silently watched the smooth walls of the elevator shaft as they rushed past the edge of the railing of the open elevator. Suddenly the walls vanished as the elevator lowered into a manmade cavern. Lights in the uneven and deliberately made rocky ceiling comfortably lit the cavern but they were position in such a way to make the whole thing look like some enchanted Aladdin's magic cavern. Large overly plush leather couches lined the cavern walls and a plush dark carpeted floor made it was obvious they were in the main living room of the underground home and not some cave.

"Which rooms would you like to see first?" The realtor asked opening the gate.

"The bedrooms." Harley answered

"The greenhouse." Ivy at the same time stated.

Ron turned to look at Shego to be the tie breaker.

"Let's see the kitchen first." Shego said with a smile at Ron.

Ron nodded his head. "The kitchen."

Harley and Ivy pouted slightly but after a moment nodded.

"yah. Kitchens can be fun too. Especially if they have nice large tables in them." Harley muttered as they followed the realtor.

"You ladies like to cook?" The realtor asked over his shoulder as he led them across the huge living room/ cavern area.

"Ronnie is the cook of the group." Harley answered and then immediately tried to cover. "I mean Theodore is the one with the cooking hobby."

The tour continued for almost four hours. The underground structure was that vast. It easily dwarfed one of Drakken's lairs. And it almost took the combined total of Harley, Ron and Shego to make Ivy leave the underground greenhouses that required their own elevators to reach because they were near the surface for sunlight.

Finally, they returned to the main living room area to discuss price.

"As you can see this is one hot piece of property." The realtor with his cheesy smile began. "We are within minutes of Las Vegas but far enough out that no one will bother you, hell most people would never even notice the estate due to its being underground. And you could throw parties the likes that would boggle the mind and not ever have to worry about the police being called due to noise since once again we are so far underground. There are the 10 bedrooms, all with their own master bathroom suites, the professional chef's kitchen, the three multipurpose rooms suitable for any hobbies, the main home theater media room…"

"How much is the asking price." Shego said cutting his spiel short. She hated salesmen of any type.

"2.8 million." The man answered with a smile.

"Whoa momma." Harley replied in shock.

Ron for his part managed to hide his shock. Looking across he could see Ivy practically begging him with her eyes for him to say yes. The automated and temperature controlled greenhouses would be perfect for her experiments on plants and the place had enough room to house a small army of hired henchmen if they ever needed to."

"I could put an immediate deposit of one hundred thousand down now and have the balance in a few weeks." Ron said bluffing. The bank robbery had been extremely good to them since they had also netted the armored truck's contents as well but he had no idea where he could come up with the rest to make up the balance.

"On 2.8 million dollars?" The realtor asked with a laugh as if Ron had made a joke. "We would require at least one million as a deposit."

Ron continued to keep his cool. "May we discuss this for a moment? That much money all at once would require my sisters to release some of their funds in addition to my own. Naturally we don't travel with that much liquid assets all the time."

"Oh of course, I perfectly understand." The realtor answered and moved across the vast room to stare out a simulated window in one wall that was complete with fake outdoor scene and artificial sunlight.

"I say we kill him." Harley whispered as soon as the guy was out of hearing range.

"That would hardly get us this property Harley." Shego replied also in a whisper.

"If only I had my lipstick." Ivy muttered. "I could use it to convince him to give us the property and forget it was ever listed with them."

"What of the owners of the property? Lady Walleye or whatever she was called?" Harley asked.

"Walitz." Shego corrected. "If she moved to the east coast chances are she turned over the property for the realtor to sell on his own. A place this expensive, it wouldn't be unheard of for it to go unsold for up to years."

"Exactly. If I had my lipstick I could keep the guy enthralled long enough for us to use this place as a base until we stole enough money to legally purchase it. No one would know as I could have the guy just keep it off his listings. If Mrs. Walitz called him, he would tell her it was still on the market."

Ron looked thoughtful as if deeply weighing something in his mind before reaching into his pocket and pulling out a familiar silver lipstick tube and handing it to Ivy. Ivy took the tube in surprise and quickly removing the cap, she twisted it up to find out sure enough it was her special blend.

"How? I thought I lost it back when Global Justice invaded that warehouse we were in?"

"You did. Kim found it." Ron answered her.

"How did you get it from Kim?" Shego asked. Noticing the grimace that crossed Ron's face she decided to drop the matter but made a mental note to have a chat with Kim about it when they crossed paths again and Shego had no doubts they would cross paths again.

"Are you sure Ron?" Ivy surprised Ron by asking as she held the tube in the palm of her hand. "You didn't have to give me this back. It would have taken me months if not years to cultivate the proper plants, if they indeed even exist in this dimension and then prepare another batch and during that time you wouldn't have to have worried that I might use it on you."

"You gave me your word. I trust you." Ron replied. "And even though I don't like the very idea of controlling someone, we need some place to hide out and why not do it in comfort if we can?"

Ivy continued to study Ron for a moment before she nodded her head. Applying the lipstick, she then called over the realtor. "Have I ever told you how much I admire a man that handles top dollar real estate?" She faked gushed before latching on to him and pulling him to a deep kiss.

AAAA

Author's notes

AAAA

Sorry for the length of time it took for this chapter. I recently had a searing pain in my left wrist develop and found out it was a case of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. To try and continue with my stories I even tried one of those voice recognition programs that type when you speak into a microphone but found it caused more errors than it was worth, so there was nothing to be done but just rest up and not use my wrist till it ceased hurting but as soon as the pain dulled in the slightest bit, I was back to writing.

If just not a little more careful with the angle of my wrist while I type. Ergonomics kids, it really is more than just a buzz word and does matter.

In any case we have a new chapter. Ron is becoming more comfortable with the lifestyle he has chosen. Kim is getting desperate looking for help to find him, while even at the same time not addmitting she can't do it all by herself. Dr. Director maybe realizing that leaving so much for the team of Kim and Ron to solve her problems she has let GJ grow a little soft and Drakken's on the run.

Yori is shadowing Kim waiting for her to find Ron so she can join her Ron-san and she may even drop a few clues for Kim to help her along.


	13. Chapter 13

Three months later:

Kim at Global Justice:

Dr. Director surveyed the indoor obstacle course from a raised platform at the end of it. After having Global Justice humiliated by the bank fiasco and the resulting losses of Dr. Drakken, Dr. Mozenberg and losing Kim Possible for a while, Dr. Director decided a new mandatory training refresher course was in order.

At least one thing had worked out for itself. Kim Possible a week after vanishing had turned back up. Actually, she had marched back into Global Justice and when Dr. Director had been summoned from her office Kim had only said. "I'm back."

When questioned on where she had been for a week, Kim had tried to give her some story about a ninja school in Japan that had trained Ron to be some kind of assassin and how Kim had thought they would help her recover Ron but they had laughed at her. Dr. Director wasn't too sure what to make of her story. While Dr. Director had never known Kim to lie, Global Justice's computers clearly showed there was no such structures in the area that Kim said the school was located. The story was made even fishier when Kim had produced her Kimmunicator to show the longitude and latitude of the school and she couldn't find the information in her device at all.

Kim had called Wade, who answered immediately which only served to annoy Dr. Director who had tried to contact the genius and had failed several times, and demanded that Wade give Dr. Director directions to the school. A nervous looking Wade had replied he had no idea what Kim was talking about. He knew of no school in Japan that trained ninjas.

This of course infuriated Kim who screamed she knew he had the information and that she knew he kept all his information backed up on three hard drives and if she had to, she would have Global Justice show up at Wade's house and get that information in person. To which Wade had replied that he had no backups of said information, that it was gone. Kim finally cooling from her anger asked him if he meant the information had been erased from his hard drives to which Wade replied, no he meant the three backup hard drives he had had were missing, physically gone from his computer system.

That little bit of information lead Dr. Director to ponder that maybe someone had gotten to Wade and had removed the hard drives to keep the information secret. Perhaps even threatening Wade into silence. In any case, there was little she could do about it. Without fairly close coordinates, she couldn't send a group into Japan to locate this school of Kim's. The Japanese government would not look kindly upon a force sent into their country to scout around for a school that officially didn't exist. And in any case, the last thing Dr. Director needed at the moment was to stir up a bed of ninjas to cause her even more troubles.

Dr. Director sighed as she watched another batch of her agents fail to complete the obstacle course in time. In the days when she had been nothing more than just another agent of Global Justice, Dr. 

Director had seen the agency emphasis more physical training and less dependency on fancy gadgets, a failing she had to admit she was directly responsible for. When scientists came to her and fervently told her they had a way for her agents to be better, faster and or more protected without having to rely on long physical training, Dr. Director had been too eager to listen to them. She should have known nothing beats good old fashioned work outs and physical conditioning.

So far, there were only two agents who consistently finished the course in the allotted time. Not surprisingly, they were Agent Will Du and Agent Kim Possible.

Hearing a shout Dr. Director leaned over the railing of the raised platform to see Kim waving up at her. "Why am I wasting time with this silly kindergarten course? I could be out there looking for Ron!" Kim yelled up to her.

"Because you came back to Global Justice, in effect telling us you need our help." Dr. Director replied with maybe just a hint of malice in her voice. Kim had threatened her agency with going public. In her mind, Kim should be grateful that Global Justice hadn't thrown her into a jail cell for threatening to reveal them. "So you shall take the same refresher training the rest of our members do."

"But I don't need this!" Kim said stomping her foot.

"Because you are perfect, right?" Dr. Director yelled down finally having had it with Kim's constant attitude problem.

"Yes." Kim shouted back. She paused for a moment but then nodded her head. "Yeah. I'm perfect. Why should I keep denying it?"

Dr. Director just stared at her for a moment. "All right Kim. You say you are perfect and you know how Global Justice should run the investigation for Ron Stoppable and the rest of his gang. I propose this challenge to you. The Global Justice obstacle course has been used for decades as a means to test and train the physical abilities of our agents." Dr. Director raised her hand. "And yes I know you have consistently finished the course well within the mandatory times. But you have yet to beat the record time for the course. The time being…" Dr. Director looked over at Will Du. "Which is?"

"Four minutes and thirty seconds." Will Du supplied on cue.

"You finish the course under that time and I will turn over full control of the investigation to you." Dr. Director finished.

Kim rubbed her hands. Finally, she would be able to get Global Justice to help her find Ron without any more of these silly training sessions or delays.

"However…" Dr. Director continued. "If you fail to finish the course under the record time I will place you under Will Du's command and you will OBEY every command he gives you without question and…" Dr. Director eyed the young woman standing staring up at her. "You will also stand on this very platform 

and in front of all the agents that are at Global Justice today and say, I am Kim Possible and I am not perfect!"

Kim's eyes flashed in anger. "You got a deal old lady." She muttered but loud enough that Dr. Director and Will Du heard her.

Dr. Director turned to look at Will Du. "Agent Will back in the days when the course record was set, they used something they called the opponent system. It was a means of distracting and delaying an agent on the field in addition to the physical requirements of the course itself. Even though we don't use this system today, relying on just the physical exertion, the equipment is still part of the course. I would like you to use the machinery while Kim is trying to beat the record."

"Wait a minute!" Kim shouted. "What is this?"

"Don't worry Kim, the equipment is only to distract and delay. It in no way can harm you. And it would be unfair for you to break the track record for the course, not having everything used against you like it was on the person who set the record. Now would it?"

Kim frowned but then set her jaw. "Bring it on. I can do anything."

Dr. Director nodded at Will Du who ran over to the sidelines of the obstacle course to familiarize himself with the controls while Kim went to the starting line.

Kim waited for Dr. Director to start the course timer. The first obstacle on the course was a run across pads floating on water in a large pool. It was simply a test of balance and as far as Kim was concerned a piece of cake. Almost all the other agents except her and Du had fallen in at least once and in some case two or three times in the icy water. Kim and Du however had simply glided over the pads as if they were solid blocks of concrete.

With a bang of a starter's gun Kim was off. The first pad she hit, she was gone before the pad could even dip down in the water from her weight. Kim in her mind wondered if she should force Dr. Director to temporarily move out of her office while Kim was in charge. A ripple in the water to the left of the pads caught Kim's attention and pulled her from her day dreams. What looked like a cannon suddenly shot up out of the water and turning to point in Kim's direction fired.

Kim smoothly leapt to the next pad before the projectile could hit and turning to look back over her shoulder Kim saw the projectile was a ball of water as it splashed the pad she had just left. Kim frowned as she concentrated on the surface of the pool to watch for more surprise water cannons popping up. The next pad on the course was farther apart than the others require a pretty good leap to reach it. Still neither Kim nor Du had had any problems previously in making the jump nor did Kim expect any now. She was just in the midst of raising her leg to make the leap when another water cannon suddenly shot up from underneath the surface of the pool directly between her and the next pad. Before Kim could react, a ball of water discharged from the cannon and slamming into her and not just drenching her but also driving her back to the edge of the pad she was on. Kim angrily shook the icy water from her eyes 

and glared over at where a very happy Will Du was at controls. For a moment, his actions and smile reminded Kim of Ron playing video games.

With a growl of annoyance, Kim raced back and leapt over the water cannon before Du could get another shot off.

The next obstacle on the course was a narrow ledge that one had to shimmy along. Underneath the ledge was another pool of icy water. While the ledge was narrow, there were plenty of hand holds on the wall in the form of large black holes. With a confident air, Kim placed the edge of her foot on the ledge and began to inch along it. Suddenly from a black hole in the wall at her face level, a punching glove on a pole shot out and smacked her in the face. Kim almost lost her grip just from the shock of it but at the last moment, she grabbed the edge of another hole in the wall and held on, only to pull her hand back with a sharp intake of breath as a second punching glove came out of that hole nearly bruising her hand. With another hard glare at the usually stoic Du who was now nearly giggling, Kim continued to inch across the ledge. As a third punching glove came out of the hole in front of where Kim was about to step, Kim leapt up and landing on the pole sticking out she made a desperate leap and crossed over to the other side avoiding all the other holes and the ledge entirely.

"I'm making good time." She called out to spite Du.

The next obstacle was a long inclined slide that one had to race up to reach a platform. The slide was steep but nothing that someone couldn't make. Of course if you had fallen into water at some point earlier in the course, the slope made it slippery to get up and Kim was still dripping a little water from her impact with the water ball Du had hit her with but still, a piece of cake, right?

As Kim started running up the slope, the platform at top had a hatch in its underside open and barrels suddenly rose up to the slide and started rolling down it.

"What you got Donkey Kong in that thing?" Kim shouted in annoyance, as she had to leap over the first barrel as it reached her. Even with the barrels, Kim made good time up the ramp. Reaching the top, she leapt over the last barrel as it rose into position.

The next obstacle was a slide down a rope attached to the platform to a small platform floating on the water of another pool. The slide was easy and frankly was one of Kim's favorite parts of the obstacle course. As Kim griped the slide part of the rope, a series of boxes raised up on either side of the course. Kim hesitated a moment to see what was going to come out of the boxes but Du was playing this part of the course close to his vest and not allowing Kim any advanced warning. Aware time was running out Kim shrugged and started her slide. Immediately the front part of the boxes slide down revealing ports in the boxes and a series of heavy bean bags were launched at Kim. Several of the bean bags painful smacked her in the sides but Kim resisted the urge to let go of the rope to clutch her aching sides and finished the slide down to the pad. A quick glance at the clock above the course revealed she still had a minute and twenty seconds left.

The last obstacle was simply a series of trampolines that one had to jump from one to the next. If you timed your jump just right, you could simply bounce from the first to the last without any effort at all. Kim looked at the first trampoline and then at where Du was standing on the sidelines and then up to where Dr. Director waited on her platform. "What is it this time? Surface to air missiles to blow me out of the sky in mid jump?"

"Nothing like that I assure you." Dr. Director called down to her. "All it is is just the trampolines."

Kim thought to herself that would be reassuring if it wasn't for the fact that Du had a smile on his face that a Cheshire cat would have envied.

Kim with a deep breath ran and launched herself at the first trampoline. As her foot hit the trampoline and she felt the surface give in preparation to bouncing her, she heard a click and the platform instead of staying solid shot downwards and then back upwards as if it was a launcher in a pinball game. And Kim was the pinball. With the extra umph given to her by the trampoline's platform, Kim over shot the next platform and headed towards the third.

"_Ha!"_ Kim thought to herself. _"This time their little trap backfired. I'll just skip the second trampoline all together and make better time this way."_

As Kim's foot landed on the third platform it too sank rapidly but this time it didn't spring back up. Thusly it absorbed all of Kim's momentum leaving her wind milling her arms to keep from falling off of it to land in the water below. With the third platform lowered so much there was no way Kim could bounce hard enough to make the fourth trampoline platform, she could make the second one from this position but that of course would mean going backwards and losing valuable time. So with one determined bounce she leapt the distance to the pole that held up the fourth platform and started climbing it as fast as she could to reach the trampoline on top of it.

The pole rapidly shot up and then down as Du tried to shake her from climbing the pole. Kim gritted her teeth and comforted her queasy stomach with the idea that as soon as she was in charge she would put Du investigating an animal shelter. Let him spend a couple of days collecting canine waste samples without the benefit of plastic baggies and he would regret doing this to her.

Finally reaching the bottom of the trampoline platform Kim grasped the edge of it and swung herself upwards. Hitting the trampoline Kim threw herself forward before Du could screw with the height adjustments of the trampoline again and doing a forward flip, she landed on the large red circle at the end of the course signaling the end of her run.

The agents who had gathered to watch her run the course applauded her achievement.

Kim with a large smile turned to look at the clock. Which read, four minutes and forty seconds.

Kim turned in horror to see Du and Dr. Director walking over to her. "Who? Who was it that finished this course in four minutes and thirty seconds?"

Dr. Director was not one to gloat but she couldn't help but lean in to the panting Kim Possible and say. "This old lady did. Fifteen years ago."

AAAA

With Bonnie:

AAAA

Bonnie gave a very unfeminine grunt as she pulled down on the chrome lat bar in front of her. As the bar crossed her line of sight, she could briefly see her face and eyes reflected by its surface.

Bonnie resisted the urge to stop her repetitions to wipe the sweat from her forehead and just settled for expelling a sharp breath upwards in an attempt to blow her damp bangs from her eyes.

Finally finishing her set Bonnie allowed the bar to rise upwards one last time and released it. Taking a deep breath, Bonnie reached out, grabbed her nearby water bottle, and took a long hard swig from it. Unnoticed by Bonnie a tiny trickle of water escaped the edge of her lips and flowed down to join the many tiny streamlets of sweat that was running down her face and neck to disappear in the valley of her breasts underneath the tight crop top T-shirt she was wearing. Bonnie might not have noticed but the other bodybuilders, both male and female certainly did as they tried to surreptitiously watch her work out. Bonnie was the center of attention in the fairly exclusive and expensive fitness gym, if not for the fact of how fit and trim she looked in her designer athletic shorts and crop top T-shirt that showed off her stunning abs, then for the utter intense drive she was showing while performing her exercises. None who knew the previous cheerleader would have believed the fanatical drive she was showing now. Not even while competing with Kim Possible or her sisters Lonnie and Connie had Bonnie ever shown such a drive and dedication.

As Bonnie rose from the lat pull machine, even though her arms were quivering from the recent strain she had put them through, she made to go to the next machine without pause.

A beffy male bodybuilder stepping into her path stopped her. Bonnie almost growled at the man for his interference before her mind placed the face in front of her. Her temporary roadblock was none other than Chad Defestrom, the owner of the gym, so Bonnie impatiently waited to hear what he has to say, although she had a pretty good idea what it was going to be.

"You are overworking your muscles without proper rest again Bonnie." The tall tanned blond muscle builder stated confirming Bonnie's prediction.

"How many times do I have to tell you? You are here every single day. Your muscles need time to recuperate."

Bonnie bit back her initial almost automatic response of 'mind your own business' because frankly that was what the man was doing in the first place. That and the owner of the gym had been very accommodating to Bonnie by sometimes opening his gym early those times when Bonnie's frustration and desire for her Master grew so strong she couldn't sleep and she needed to work out to relieve her stress.

Bonnie knew the man would gladly help her relive her stress in another physical manner if she would only give him a tumble but since that day with Ron in the ROOM, Bonnie had decided her body was to become a temple. A temple that would only have one 'high priest' enter its sacred portals again and that was to be her Master Ron.

"What about these other guys?" Bonnie asked casting a negligent hand in the direction of some of the other body builders. "They are here as much as I am. I don't see you bothering them about their routines."

"Those guys are all posers." Chad just as negligently nodded his head in their directions. "Sure they work out but most of the time they just drink water and flirt with the women who come here. No one is as driven about his or her exercise routines as you are Bonnie. Are you thinking of entering some kind of body builder competition?"

Bonnie allowed a secret little smile to cross her face. "It is a competition of sorts but I'm not out for any dumb trophy."

"Then all this effort is just to gain some man's attention?" Chad asked a bit jealous. Bonnie was quite the looker and he had tried to get her to notice him since she started coming to his gym but she ignored all his attempts.

"No." Bonnie said with conviction. "It is not just SOME man."

Chad sighed. "Well remember what I said. Take every alternate day off or you are going to tear a muscle and end up having to put your training on hold till it heals."

Bonnie nodded her head and as Chad moved off to coach someone else, she made a beeline for the butterfly machine before someone else could take it. The butterfly machine was a machine that you sat in with pads at shoulder level that a person put their arms behind and pulled them towards their chest. While Bonnie only used the machine sparingly, because prolonged use of it could tend to flatten a woman's chest by over strengthening the muscles of it, judicious use made the breasts stand out more and become more 'perky'.

Bonnie also liked the machine because it took so little thought to perform the exercises on it she could let her mind wander and most of the time her thoughts were of her Master Ron. There were the odd moments when Bonnie would allow herself to ponder over her fixation on Ron and whether it was normal or healthy but those thoughts never lasted long. He was the certain 'someone' she had been searching all her life for and she was going to prove she was worthy of him. As the pads on the machine closed and opened alternately blocking Bonnie's view of the gym, her mind suddenly dragged up a memory Bonnie most definitely did not want to relive.

She had been fourteen years old. Her parents had been fighting off and on for months like cats and dogs and Bonnie was scared that her family was about to break up. Her older sisters Lonnie and Connie instead of comforting their younger sister had tried to convince her that it was all her fault. The stress and confusion of home life was causing the normally A student Bonnie to let her grades slide slightly. 

She was in no danger whatsoever of failing any classes but her performance was lacking a little and her grades had slipped from A's to B's.

One night Mr. Rockwaller was almost at the edge ready to leave his vain and simpering wife. The woman had no substance at all. She was strictly about appearances and image. She had raised the two older girls in her image perfectly and what was so distressing was the girls were too simple minded to even realize it. Their mother dragged them around as if they were prized show poodles and the girls thought it was love. He couldn't take it anymore. His greatest comfort was that the youngest, his little Bon Bon wasn't completely like her older two sisters yet and he held out hope that she would be different. That she might grow up valuing intelligence over looks and make something of herself.

After yet another heated argument with his wife, Mr. Rockwaller sat down at the table to read the mail. Among the exorbitant bills for clothing and perfume his wife and daughters had racked up were his daughters' report cards. Connie and Lonnie had done well as they normally did but Bonnie's showed a slight slippage. Fearing his youngest was turning into nothing but a vain air head, he rushed up stairs and found Bonnie reading a fashion magazine. Actually she was pretending to read it as to distract herself from the recent fighting she had heard coming from downstairs.

In a fit of anger Mr. Rockwaller had dragged Bonnie from her room to the hallway's linen closet all the time telling her how worthless she was becoming and throwing her into the extremely tight and confined closet he made sure the door was blocked so she couldn't get out. Still in a rage, he then left to get away from the women in his life. Bonnie remained locked in that tight closet for 12 hours as she beat on the door and begged her sisters to let her out. Her sisters had only laughed at her and reminded her that it was ALL just her fault and she was nothing more than trash and she deserved it.

The next day her father finally returned to the house after a night of drinking. Staggering upstairs and finding his daughter inside a closet he couldn't remember putting her in, he figured she was hiding from her sisters and to teach her a lesson on standing up for herself he then spanked her unmercifully for hiding from her problems rather than facing them.

This spurned on another fight between him and his wife, who feared he might start spanking her precious Connie and Lonnie and Mr. Rockwaller finally had enough and left the house to never return. Oh, he made sure he sent money to keep the family going and sent gifts every year at the proper times but Bonnie never saw her father in person again.

All of this ended up leaving Bonnie believing that since she hadn't been 'good' enough that her father had left her. This had inspired Bonnie to never let anyone ever think they were better than she was again. She would be the best! She strove and competed with the shadows of her sisters Lonnie and Connie throughout school and once entering high school she met Kim Possible and Ron Stoppable. Oh, she knew them from before in elementary school but at that time they seemed normal and harmless enough and they and her had little contact with one another. Bonnie had eyed Ron a time or two but only from a distance of course. No, it was when they all entered high school that things started to go downhill. Everything that Bonnie tried to excel at, Kim was there first. Classes? Kim was there. After 

school activities? Kim had signed up to chair them before Bonnie could. Cheerleading? Kim was made head cheerleader over her!

Talent shows? Somehow, Kim always managed to get out of those but even in those cases Ron bested Bonnie! Nobody could remember what Bonnie had done for her talent but for weeks after the show, everyone was humming a song about a naked pink mole rat!

The one area Bonnie had over Kim was that Kim was dating a non entity on the school food chain while Bonnie was dating a football quarterback. The absolute highest point a male could get in the food chain and when Bonnie had made a goal of pointing that out to Kim, the bitch stole her man from her just to prove she could! That was the point when Bonnie decided it was time to take something away from Kim.

Ron cared nothing for appearances and was happy being himself, which of course went counter to everything that High School was about but Ron was good natured, kind, compassionate and loyal. Things that Bonnie had craved all her life to receive from a man and Kim had it and didn't even know or value it.

So Bonnie crossed a line. She snuck into Ron's house while he was asleep one night and tying him up she basically raped him. Any other male would have either bragged about it or had turned her in. Instead, Ron had seemed to understand Bonnie on a level no other had before and one day when they were in the hallways alone, he had come close to her and whispered that he forgave her. Bonnie of course acted like she had no idea what he was referring to but still she was grateful that Ron wasn't going to hold what she had done against her.

After graduation, hearing that Kim had dumped Ron and her own lover had left her, Bonnie quietly went to Ron. She didn't try to console him or let him cry on her shoulder but had simply asked if he wanted to have sex with her again. To her surprise, Ron had agreed and Bonnie found out that sex was far more enjoyable when your partner isn't forced into it and was willing. Ron had held and stroked her in a way none of her other lovers had ever done before and Bonnie had come close to thinking they might have made love rather than just sex. But even then, Kim still couldn't let Bonnie win anything and be better than her. Just when Bonnie had been about to throw all her pretensions away and allow Ron to admit to the relationship in public and try to make something more of it, the bitch had come back and taken Ron away from her again!

Bonnie had thrown herself half heartedly into trying to fix her relationship with Senor Senior Junior but he was even more shallow than she was and slowly drifted away from her.

Well no more! Bonnie was done with being weak and losing people she cared about due to her failings. She was going to become strong and she would make her Master accept her and love her damn it! With his help, Bonnie was certain that he could 'improve' her and help her finally become 'good enough'.

Tears were streaming from Bonnie's eyes so strongly she didn't even notice that Chad had returned to check up on her again and caught her crying as she exercised.

"You have strained something haven't you Bonnie?" The man asked her as he reached out and caught the edges of the pads forcing her stop.

Bonnie could only blankly stare at him for a moment before nodding her head and placing a hand on her chest. Oh her chest did hurt but not from anything as simple as a muscle strain. No, she was heart sick for her Master to accept her and correct her behavior and make her his, to make her perfect.

"Should I call for a doctor?" Chad asked concerned.

Bonnie shook her head no. "I'll just take a quick shower and go home. Maybe you are right and I will skip tomorrow's schedule and let my muscles relax for a day?"

"Trust me it is the best way to do it. You'll actually improve faster by taking a day off." Chad replied as he helped her from the machine.

Arriving back at her family home, Bonnie quickly raced up the stairs to her room to keep from running into her mother or her sisters and locked the door. Looking at the full mirror on her closet door she finally got up and walked over to it. Opening the door Bonnie looked around to see if anyone was watching, even though she knew she was alone in her room and the door was locked, before pulling a box from the back of the closet.

Opening the box Bonnie looked in on what she thought of as Stage Two of her plan to attract her Master's attention to her.

Pulling out black leather pants from the box, Bonnie quickly slid out of her street clothes she had worn from the gym and slid the black leather over her lean tanned legs. The black leather pants were custom made for Bonnie from an exclusive boutique she had found and fitted her like a second skin. Instead of shiny leather like most women would have chosen, the black pants were a dull black. Bonnie figured that would be more appropriate for a criminal than shiny pants that might attract attention in the dark. Bonnie then reached into the box and pulled out a pair of black leather boots. The boots had high stiletto heels that while Bonnie admitted to herself were impractical for committing crimes; they still looked so damn hot she couldn't resist getting them. Pulling them over her legs Bonnie walked around a bit trying to master the boots so she would be ready when the time came for her to commit her first crime.

Reaching back into the box Bonnie pulled out a black spandex / tight knit weaved shirt. Everything was in black not just because Bonnie figured that black was a natural color for a criminal to wear but also the fact she noted that Ron had worn black, as well as Shego and that Harley Quinn person. Admittedly, Shego and Quinn had other colors in their costumes. That being green in Shego's case and red in Quinn's but Bonnie decided fashion wise you couldn't go wrong with your basic black and obviously, it was a favorite color of her master to be.

Bonnie looked at the tight shirt in her hand and then glanced at the mirror on the door. The shirt was so tight that if she wore it with a bra it would show up like a sore thumb. Hesitantly Bonnie reached for the clasp on her sports bra and paused a time or two before removing it. Pulling the tight shirt over her 

head Bonnie checked her look in the mirror. The shirt clinged and hugged her every curve. Taking a breath Bonnie could feel the material cupping and holding her as she wished her master would do. The shirt also made it blatantly obvious to anyone looking she was not wearing a bra but then again Bonnie was planning on leaving her old life behind to attract her master's attention and she had noticed that Harley certainly hadn't worn a bra either.

Reaching into the box one more time Bonnie pulled the last two items out and held them in her hands as she examined them. One was a stylized black mask that covered the upper portion of her face and eyes. It looked vaguely cat like. The other item was something Bonnie would be mortified if anyone saw her wearing it other than her master. It was a black collar with a brass tag on the side that said Bon Bon and a small gold bell that hung down. After putting on both the collar and the mask Bonnie looked at herself in the mirror.

She still thought the name Catwoman was kind of silly so she had decided to call herself Black Cat, but after reflection, she realized her auburn hair kind of ruined the effect. She had thought briefly about dying her hair a coal black to match the costume but she was unwilling to make that drastic a change to her appearance without her master's consent. Sure, she was working out but she looked at that as just improving what she had, a hair color change would be too much without Ron telling her it was okay.

So finally, Bonnie had decided on the name Shadow Cat for her new criminal career. Her brown hair fitted that name without problems and it was somewhat catchy a name.

As Bonnie slowly turned to admire her look in the mirror, her door to her room suddenly opened to reveal her sister Lonnie standing there staring at her.

"What the hell are you suppose to be?" Lonnie asked her with a sneer. "Finally decided to go with your talents and become a whore?"

"Get the hell out of my room Lonnie." Bonnie answered gritting her teeth together. "How did you get it unlocked anyway?"

"Pff. Me and Connie made a key to your room years ago, in case you ever had anything we wanted. Course you being you, you never did. Now what is up with the getup? You going to a punk rock concert or something? Oh, I know! This is a groupie costume for that air headed boyfriend of yours? What's the name of his band? The Squalling Alley Cats?"

"Whatever." Bonnie stated in a bored tone. "Now get the hell out of my room before I put you out!"

"I would like to see you try." Lonnie said folding her arms across her chest.

As Bonnie started moving in her direction, Lonnie took a good look at Bonnie's arms that were clearly visible underneath the tight long sleeved shirt she was wearing. Lonnie could see the muscles that had developed from her daily visits to the gym and for the first time in her life, Lonnie was a little scared of her younger sister. "Well I can't stand around all day talking to a loser like you." She said as she quickly backed out of Bonnie's bedroom and reshut the door.

"If I knew that was all it took, I would have worked out a long time ago." Bonnie mused to herself in her victory of ridding herself of her sister's presence.

Bonnie returned to looking at herself in her mirror. Caressing her hand over her costume one last time and imagining that it was Ron's hands, Bonnie smiled at her image in the mirror. "Soon I'll be ready my master and we will meet again."

AAAA

With Ron, Shego, Harley and Ivy in Las Vegas:

AAAA

As the main house elevator lowered Ron and his group into the living room, he let out a tired sigh. He was carrying a large black sample case which he sat down on the coffee table in front of a couch and collapsed on to the leather couch. He along with the women was dressed in expensive tailored clothing and had just come back from a day's outing at several of the largest casinos in Vegas.

Ron was still a little reluctant to pull off crimes with Shego, Harley and Ivy for fear of innocents being harmed so he had made a lucky discovery about his Mystical Monkey Powers one day at a casino that Harley had insisted they case for a possible future crime. Ron's mystical monkey powers made the manipulation of dice in Craps games easier than eating a Naco. Ron quickly learned he could make the dice do whatever he wanted them too and ended up earning more money using his skills at the tables than they did at the bank robbery! Of course Ron started by winning small amounts in various casinos at first to keep from being spotted right away by the casino' bosses but even the small amounts was quickly adding up to enough that he would be able to legally buy the house they were in a very short time.

Harley spun in the designer gown she was wearing. It was a shimmery black with tiny red diamonds on it and the skirt was split up to her waist revealing her legs when she moved. Her blond hair was brushed out as Ivy and Shego both pointed out that if she put her hair up in pigtails, the dress was too close to her normal Harlequin costume and made her stand out like a sore thumb. So it was either a different dress, which Harley couldn't bare as she had fallen in love with the black number upon seeing it in a Las Vegas clothing store, or wear her hair in a different style than Global Justice knew her for.

"I just love casinos!" Harley gushed. "The bright lights, the sounds, the smells, everything about them just screams money!"

Ivy crashed tiredly on the couch next to Ron. "I just hate casinos for the same reason. The lights, the sounds, the smells, everything just screams nature destroyed and perverted for animal greed and lusts."

Ron sympathetically patted Ivy on the knee of her emerald green designer dress she was wearing. "I know. These money making trips have been especially hard on you haven't they? I know how you hate to be inside for such long periods of time, under those glaring florescent light bulbs."

Ivy nodded her head. "Uh huh." She said sadly.

"That is why I got you a special gift today." Ron said pulling himself up from where he was sprawled on the couch to reach the case on the table.

"Whatcha get her?" Harley asked curiously and even Shego moved closer to see. Shego over the months had learned to temper her jealousy of the other two women with the knowledge that no matter how much attention or affection Ron showed them, that she was still the only one Ron told he loved her to. Shego had even begun to consider the two extra dimensional criminals as if they were the sisters she never had.

"There was a convention like thing going on in a building a few blocks from the casino we were at today, all about gardening and plants. If you remember while you guys were having lunch, I slipped out? Well I went to the convention thing to see if they might have something to brighten Ivy's day."

Ivy smiled at Ron. "That was nice of you Ron but why didn't you just tell me about the convention? I could have slipped in and stolen a few things for myself."

"You think that might be the reason he didn't tell you?" Shego asked rhetorically.

"I'm not opposed to you guys stealing. I understand that is your nature and I'm not going to try to change you into tea drinking members of the rotary club, but I just don't want you to pull any crimes this close to where we live. I witnessed many times Drakken lose his lairs because he pulled crimes too close to where he was staying at and got found." Ron smiled at Ivy. "And besides, I wanted to surprise you with something nice for all the time you've put in those closed in casinos with us."

Ron clicked the catches on the case and lifting the top off he revealed a tray containing a dozen or so plants.

Ivy's smile of appreciation was like a fine wine to him but he noticed her frown slightly before she lightly giggled. "Ron?" She asked. "What kind of plants did you tell the man at this convention you wanted?"

Ron shrugged. Even staying with an herbalist plant expert like Ivy he still knew very little about plants. I just told him I wanted whatever exotic plants he had. Why what did I get?"

Ivy pointed a finger at a very recognizable Venus Flytrap and as the plant closed its tiny 'mouth' on her finger she giggled again and cooed at the plant. "Awww baby is hungry? I'll feed you some of my special plant food later and you will grow big and strong." To Ron she said. "Surely you recognize this little one?"

Ron frowned. "Um, Venus Flytrap, right?"

Ivy nodded her head. And these she said as she pointed out some of the rest of the plants in the tray. "Blooming Nightshade, Poison Hemlock, and this one is a close relative of nightshade and is known as Belladonna." Ivy pointed at a plant that had compound leaves with three leaflets, small green flowers, and tiny whitish berries. "My namesake, Poison Ivy. In fact, Ron you have bought a variety of very toxic 

and poisonous plants." Ivy laughed. "When you told the man you were looking for exotic plants he must have thought you were looking for something to bump someone off and sold you every dangerous plant he had."

Ron's face fell into a frown. "I'm sorry I thought I was doing something right." He said as he reached out to take the tray from Ivy.

"Don't you dare take these back! I love them! They'll have a place of honor in my greenhouse!" Ivy said as she pulled the tray to her chest and practically cuddled the plants.

"What about me?" Harley asked plaintively. "Don't I rate a gift?"

"I saved you today from that banker from Dallas didn't I?" Ron asked raising an eyebrow.

"Huh? Oh you mean baldy?" Harley asked after a moment's thought. "I could have broken his arm when he groped me. You didn't have to pick him up and practically throw him through that slot machine."

"Ron man has to protect his ladies doesn't he?" Ron asked with a grin.

"Are we your ladies?" Harley asked fluttering her eyelashes at him.

"Oh quit it Harley, you know you are. For as long as you want to be." Ron replied.

Ivy got up from the couch. "Well I need to put these little ones to bed." She said gesturing at the tray of plants in her hand. "Want to help me Harley?"

Harley made a slight face before replying. "No, I'm going to go watch my favorite cartoon. It is just starting." So saying she ran out of the room in the direction of the media theater room of the house. Ivy just shrugged and headed over to the greenhouse elevator to take care of her plants.

"The Ron man's ladies?" Shego asked as she settled on the couch next to Ron. Ron lifted his arm and Shego quickly scouted over to make herself comfortable at his side. "So Ron man, how does it feel to have a harem?" She asked.

"Harem? With those two I feel more like a parent watching over their kids most of the time." Ron replied with a chuckle.

"You better not think of them as our kids with the things we have done with them." Shego chuckled herself. "I mean that would be wrong if they were our kids."

Ron thought for a moment before screwing his face into a grimace. "Yeah, that's true. Wrong and sick. Okay so they are not like our kids. What would you compare them too?"

"Exotic and dangerous wild animals that we are keeping leashed." Shego answered immediately.

Ron thought for a moment. "So instead of incest you want to imagine we are committing bestiality?"

Shego gave a snort of laughter before softening her eyes to stare at Ron's profile. "You can always make me laugh, you know that?"

"At least I'm good for something." Ron replied with a grin.

"When it comes to you Ron, you are good for everything for me." Shego replied and taking a hand, she pulled his head down to hers and kissed him deeply.

Ron put the finishing touches on dinner, slid it back into the oven to keep it warm, and started searching out the rest of his 'family' to let them know it was ready. Ron knew Shego was relaxing in her room after their intense impromptu make out session that afternoon on the couch so he decided to leave her for last. Sticking his head into the media room, he yelled to be heard over the blaring TV and let Harley know that dinner was ready. So that only left Ivy to fetch and Ron knew she still in her greenhouses working with her plants. Ivy was always in her greenhouses working with her plants when they were 'home'.

Ron even after three months found it odd to think of what was basically an underground lair as home but he didn't fight the feeling. This was now his home, the three women with him were 'family', and he would fight tooth and nail to protect either.

Taking the greenhouse elevator Ron wondered what he would see when it stopped. The greenhouses were the exclusive providence of Poison Ivy and as such only Harley went to them on a regular basis. Usually Ron would just send Harley to get Ivy but he knew when Harley was watching cartoons it was just easier to do it yourself than to rely on her.

As the elevator rose through its rocky tube, Ron looked upwards. The elevator just like the main house elevator was an open one, only smaller than the main house elevator. Just a round platform with a protective brass railing around it to make sure the riders didn't somehow fall off of it. A single pneumatic piston lifted the platform and the elevator would end in the center of the first greenhouse. As the ride ended, Ron found himself in a type of gazebo like structure that was formed by four large shrubs that rose around the opening of the elevator shaft to converge above the opening forming a 'roof' made of plants. It was very artistic and once again, Ron marveled at Ivy's ability to get plants to form almost anything she wanted.

Opening the railing, Ron made to leave the elevator but was stopped as a vine dropped down from the shrubbery gazebo's roof. The vine wrapped around Ron's waist and pulling him upwards Ron suddenly found himself facing a giant flower coming out of the shrubbery ceiling that looked like a giant mutant tulip.

Gulping with visions of Little Shop of Horrors in his mind, Ron braced himself as the flower quickly came down; Ron prepared to have himself eaten by a plant. To his shock, the flower just pressed its petals to the side of his face as if giving him a petal soft kiss.

"Awww she likes you." Ron heard Ivy comment.

Turning his head he managed to see Ivy, now dressed in her normal costume was standing near the elevator watching in amusement as her plant continued to rain kisses upon Ron's face.

"What the heck is this?" Ron asked as the plant switched to the other side of his face and continued to kiss him.

"They are my guardian plants. I always plant them around entrances to whatever greenhouse or gardens I manage to set up. Anyone that has my scent on them, they allow entrance with no problems but let someone I don't know enter my garden and …. Well let's just say they are not so friendly."

"I must be drenched in your scent then." Ron managed to say before the tulip flower switched to his other side again and continued to kiss him.

"What can I say? My plants have good taste." Ivy smiled and admired Ron's body that was being held by her plants. "Just like I do."

Ron could see the elevator below him was starting to sink back down and was suddenly afraid the plant holding him might accidentally drop him down the shaft. _"Would be a most embarrassing way to die."_ Ron thought to himself. _"Killed by a butterfingered amorous plant dropping me down an elevator shaft in my own home."_

"Okay baby put him down." Ivy ordered the plant.

The tulips pressed one last time against the side of Ron's face as the plant slowly lowered Ron and sat him down gently outside the elevator shaft.

Ron sent a wary look back at the plants covering the entrance hole to the elevator but they were once again doing their imitation of a perfectly innocent looking shrubbery, the mutant tulip face no longer visible, as it had pulled back into the mass of leaves of the gazebo's ceiling. "I just came up to get you for dinner." Ron told Ivy.

"Is it that late already?" Ivy asked looking up at the glass ceiling of the greenhouse. Darkness with a few visible stars in the sky showed that indeed the sun had gone down and the automatic lights of the greenhouse had come on. "I lose track of the time when I am with my babies." Ivy said gesturing at the raised plant beds of the greenhouse.

Ron took the opportunity to look around. He had never really bothered since moving into the underground house to come up to Ivy's greenhouse before. Everywhere he looked there was green and a profusion of flowering plants. He had to admit it did look like some tropical Eden and he could understand why Ivy liked to be there so much.

"Let me show you around." Ivy said grasping Ron by his arm.

Ron thought about telling her no, that dinner was going to get cold but he had left everything in the turned off ovens so the food wouldn't cool off too quickly and Ron had to admit he had never seen Ivy looking so alive as she was at this moment surrounded by her beloved plants. Her skin still had a pronounced green tint from working with the plants in the sunlight that had been pouring in from the windows above, the setting sun having not gone down that long ago and she was stunning looking.

Ron allowed himself to be pulled along as Ivy pointed out plants and told him their scientific names. Hearing the elevator rising behind them both Ivy and Ron turned around to watch as Harley rose up from the hole in the floor, she was still wearing the little black dress she had on when they had been in town.

"Hey guys whatcha doing?" Harley had just enough time to ask before a vine dropped down and wrapped around her waist and pulled her upwards as Ron had been done not too long ago.

"Aww come on. Do we have to go through this every time I come up here?" Harley asked but good naturedly as the tulip lowered to smother her with kisses.

"Whoa! Watch the hands! Er, I mean vines!" Harley suddenly shouted out as one of the vines creped along her bared leg from the slit in her dress and started caressing upwards under it. "Ivy!" Harley shouted. "Call off your plant! I am beginning to feel like one of those heroines in a Japanese hentai movie! I don't want this thing trying to 'pollinate' me!"

Ivy giggled as she walked over to her plant and placed a hand on the shrubbery. "Let her down baby."

Harley as she was placed gently on to the ground blew some of her blond hair out of her eyes. "You know it is not always easy having a plant genius for a girlfriend." She said to Ron. Harley's eyes grew wide as the plant as it released her let one of its vines snap her on the butt.

Ivy hid her smile behind a hand as Harley rubbed her butt as she walked away from the entrance to the elevator.

"So again, whatcha doing?" Harley asked as she looked around.

"I came up here to get Ivy for dinner. I already told you it was ready, remember?" Ron told her.

"Oh yeah. I remember you sticking your head into the TV room but I didn't hear what you said. That is why I came looking for you."

Ron rolled her eyes slightly. Sure, he had been known for getting engrossed in a few TV shows in his day but nothing like how Harley could be hypnotized by a few simple cartoons. The woman truly did have a child like sense about her sometimes.

"Well let's go get Blackie and chow down. I'm hungry." Harley said, using her nickname for Shego.

As the three turned to head toward the elevator they all noticed that it had silently went back down again, signaling that someone below had summoned it again and since the only ones that were missing 

was Rufus and Shego, they waited to see who it would be to come up. As the elevator silently rose and clicked into place, they could see it was both Shego and Rufus. Rufus was riding on Shego's shoulder and Shego was looking a little annoyed.

"I get up from my nap and find everyone gone." Shego managed to say before the vines from the gazebo started to descend. Rufus let out a terrified eep and leaping down he dodged a vine heading for him and ran over to Ron for protection.

As the mutant tulip descended, Shego glanced up at it and flared her hands with her plasma powers. "Don't even think about it." She told the plant in no nonsense terms.

The tulip face drooped and then hung its head down dejectedly.

Shego watched it for a moment and then put the fire dancing around her hands out. "Oh all right if you are going to pout about it, but just this once." She finally said to the plant.

The tulip raised its head eagerly and wrapping vines around Shego's waist pulled her up to it and planted a big kiss right on Shego's mouth. As the tulip moved away from her Shego made pituhing sounds. "I just got 'frenched' by a flower." She said in wonder.

"How did you know that was what it was going to do?" Ron asked as he, Ivy and Harley walked over to the elevator.

"I didn't know." Shego replied. "I just figured it meant me no harm since I trust Ivy not to sic her plants on me. I had no idea the damn thing was going to want to go 'steady' and make out." Shego gave a slight jump as the plant as it let go of her allowed one of its vines to caress her bottom.

Ivy hid a grin behind a raised hand.

Another of the guardian plants vines descended as Ron neared and the vine headed in Rufus's direction. Rufus gave another eep and ducked behind Ron's head. Peeking out the naked mole rat finally returned to Ron's shoulder and sniffed at the vine as it hovered. Finally, the mole rat held out a tiny paw and the tip of the vine lowered to allow the mole rat to shake it but as soon as Rufus let go, the plant vine darted forward and wrapping around the mole rat and pulled it up towards the tulip part. Several loud smooching sounds later the vine returned Rufus to Ron's shoulder.

"Yuck. Pttuing." Rufus grumbled.

This time Ivy didn't even try to stop the light laugh that came.

"Our little buddy finally gets to see some action and it came from a plant." Harley joked.

Rufus shot her a glare and then holding his head up high he turned on Ron's shoulder so his back was to her.

"Ah, don't be that way. I was just joking." Harley immediately apologized but Rufus wouldn't look at her and turned when she walked around Ron to try and get him to face her. "Look you can have my portion of whatever has cheese on it tonight. Okay?"

Rufus seemed to consider for a moment and then nodded his head and turned to look back at her with a thumbs up gesture.

"That reminds me Ronnie." Harley stated. "What are we having tonight?"

"Vegetarian enchiladas and nacos with extra cheese. Real cheese for us and for Ivy a plant cheese substitute."

"What?! That's not fair! I have to give mine to Rufus?" Harley exclaimed. "You know how much I love your Mexican food!"

Ron laughed. "Don't panic. I have enough to feed a small army. Even with Rufus's and your appetites."

Ron reached for the railing on the elevator to open it so they could all go down but hesitated.

"Did you hear that?" He asked the others.

Shego frowned, while Harley and Ivy just cocked their heads listening.

There it was again, a slight thumping noise and as the group listened, they thought they could hear a groan with it as well.

They all looked to Ivy. "It's not one of my plants, I haven't bred any of them with vocal cords yet and the only plant that has movement capabilities right now is the guardian plants." They all then glanced at the plants that made up the gazebo but there wasn't a rustle from them since the mutant tulip had pulled back up after kissing Rufus.

"The place is haunted?!" Harley asked turning to look all around her.

"It is not haunted." Shego said rolling her eyes at Harley. Another very low groan though had Shego peering at the silent greenhouse herself. She glanced over at Ron to see him staring up at the distant glass ceiling of the greenhouse.

"Can you turn off the lights in here for a moment?" He asked Ivy.

"Sure." Ivy clapped her hands together twice and the lights in the greenhouse shut off plunging them all into darkness. The only light was that now coming from the stars above them.

Shego could make out their dark forms in the gloom of the greenhouse and could see Ron point up at the ceiling. "There!" He said pointing. Looking, Shego could just make out a distant darker vaguely man shaped like shadow against the night sky on top of the glass ceiling of the greenhouse on the outside.

Ron clapped his hands twice turning the lights back on and with his eyes glowing slightly blue he ran for a distant wall. Reaching it, he started to swing and leap as if he were a monkey among the exposed girders of the greenhouse structure heading up towards the window where the dark shadow outside had been.

A moment later Ivy, Harley and Shego reached the wall.

Ivy pulled out a round seed from a pouch on her costume and tossing it into a flower bed near the wall she said. "Grow." A mighty vine burst from the flower bed and leaping up on to it, Ivy sat side saddle on it and began to rapidly rise upwards.

Harley with a forward flip landed on one of the girders Ron had used earlier and began climbing and jumping trying to catch up with him and Ivy. While she lacked the simian grace Ron was showing, her gymnastic skills were still a sight to behold as she twisted and leapt. Shego started to follow her but heard Ron yell down to her to stay where she was in case Ron were to drop their intruder she could catch him.

Reaching the glass windows of the greenhouse ceiling Ron found they were held closed by a set of small screws. He was just about to just punch his fist through the glass when a glowing blue eyed Rufus who had ridden on Ron's shoulder ran up the arm Ron was using to hold on to a girder near the glass. Reaching out Rufus quickly undid the screws freeing the glass pane up. Ron then using his mystical monkey enhanced muscles pulled one handed upwards and with his free hand gently slid the glass to the side. Reaching out Ron felt around till he was able to feel a piece of the man's clothing, grabbing a hold of the man lying on top of the greenhouse windows unconscious, Ron pulled him inside. Now supporting the unidentified man's dead weight with one hand while his other hand clenched the girder, Ron waited with eyes now glowing a fiery electric blue as Rufus leapt out of the greenhouse and pulled the free glass window back into place and working quickly re-secured it, before running back to his place on Ron's shoulder.

Ron wondered for a moment how he was going to make it safely back down to the greenhouse floor with the man with just the use of one arm, the distance was far too great to simply just let the man fall for Shego to catch. Shego was strong but there was no way Ron was going to drop something on her from that height, not to mention all the jerking that would happen probably wouldn't be in the guy's best interest either. But he was saved from having to try it when Ivy rose up on her vine to meet him. The end of the vine she was riding reached out and carefully wrapping around the unconscious man's waist and took the weight from Ron. Not that the man was all that heavy. Ron tried to take a good look at their mystery guest as the plant took him from him but the man's clothing was nothing more that dirty shreds that looked like they covered a sack of bones, the man's jacket was pulled up over his face hiding it, no doubt to protect him from the searing hot sun that had recently set and all in all Ron got the impression the poor soul had been lost and wandering in the desert for maybe days. Which was really odd since Las Vegas itself was not that far away and easily found by the bright lights it gave off during the night.

As Ivy's vine began to slowly descend, Ron started swinging and springing his way down the girders again, stopping along the way to scoop up Harley, who had only managed to reach the half way point and carry her with one arm as he finished a last swing of a girder and landed lightly next to Shego.

"You Tarzan, me Jane?" Harley asked as Ron set her up on her feet after landing.

As Ivy's plant vine reached the ground level, it unfurled dropping the unconscious man into Shego's arms. Carefully laying the man on the floor Shego pulled open the strangely familiar closed jacket revealing the man's face.

A blue skinned face with angry purple splotches across it and a face so swelled in places that Shego hardly recognized him.

"Drakken?" Shego gasped in shock.


	14. Chapter 14

Partners in Crime

By Weirdbard

Chapter 14

"You followed me and have been watching me?" Shego yelled and Ron had to grab Shego's hands to keep her from shaking the limp unconscious body of Dr. Drakken.

"Come on Shego the guy's unconscious and how could he have followed us to Las Vegas? The poor guy looks like he has been wandering around in the desert for days and we've been here months."

"Yeah, he don't look so good." Harley decided to state her opinion. "Why is his face all purple like?"

Ron having temporarily calmed Shego glanced over at Harley. "If you spend too much time outside and get a sunburn, what color does your face turn?"

Harley thought for a moment. "Red from sunburn of course."

"And what color do you get if you combine red and blue?" Ron prompted.

"You get purp.. Oh, I get it. Wow, he is really really sun burnt then isn't he?"

Shego's brief burst of anger was gone in an instant to be replaced with concern. "Is he going to be okay?" She asked Ron. Even though there was never anything between her and Drakken, he was her employer for a number of years and Shego had come to somewhat think of him as a friend, a colossal fumbling goofball idiot with ridiculous plans for world conquest but still somewhat a friend. Shego once again lowered her hands to Drakken but this time to carefully turn his face side to side to examine him.

"Some of these purple splotches are not just sunburn. Some of them are bruises. Someone really worked Dr. D. over good." She noted with almost professional observation.

"What do we do with him?" Harley asked. "Throw him back outside?"

Shego gave her a sharp glance. "Will have to get him some medical attention and fast." She stated.

"Um, isn't that a bad idea? I mean I know me and Ivy haven't been here long but are there that many people running around with blue skin? We take him to a hospital or a doctor won't they recognize him and turn him over to the police immediately and us with him?"

Shego frowned. Harley had a point. While most of Dr. Drakken's world conquest plans rarely made it far enough into operation for the news media to become aware of them before Kim Possible stopped him, he was still well enough known to police agencies and by extension most medical facilities who were regularly briefed on wanted criminals to look out for. If they were back in Middletown, she would 

have taken him to see Dr. Mozenberg but here? She hadn't made any underground contacts with less than legal doctors yet.

Shego looked to Ron. She was familiar with your typical criminal health complaints, things like what to do for gunshots, knife wounds, etc. But she had no idea what to do about third degree sun burns.

"Is his health important to you two?" Ivy who had been standing calmly nearby asked.

Shego looked up at her in annoyance. "Of course his health is important to me. He's my frien… well he's an acquaintance of mine anyway."

Ivy kneeled down and surprisingly gently turned Drakken's face and examined him much the same way Shego had done a moment ago. "Sun burns…. Aloe Vera will help with that. Fever from the sun burn…. Fever Few will bring that down." Ivy reached for his jacket and opened to expose a very dirty T-shirt underneath, pulling that up she examined Drakken's chest and stomach that was revealed. Drakken's stomach was sunken and his ribs were visible but what caused Ron and Shego to suck in a breath was the signs of whip marks across Drakken's chest and belly. "Aloe Vera will help with the bruises as well." Ivy continued to clinically discuss what needed to be done. "And for the obvious signs of hunger and deprivation some water and Ron's good cooking and rest will help with that in no time." She finished, standing up she snapped her fingers and Shego could see some plants in flowerbeds a few feet away start to grow in their direction.

"What are you going to do?" She asked also rising to her feet to face Ivy across Drakken's body.

"Modern medicine is based off of plants." Ivy stated as if that explained everything. Seeing that Shego was still defensive, Ivy sighed. "If this guy's health is important to you and Ron, it is important to us as well." Ivy said making a slight gesture of her hand to include her and Harley in the statement.

"It does?" Harley asked before seeing Shego glaring at her. She then nodded her head and said with more conviction. "It does."

The plants growing along the walkway between the planters reached Drakken and wrapping around underneath his arms began to pull him gently towards the raised planters.

Shego tensed and looked as if she was about to rip the plants away from him but was stopped as Ron placed a hand on her shoulder.

"How long will it take for the plants to heal him?" He asked Ivy.

"He should regain consciousness in a matter of minutes." Ivy stated. "But the plants will need to work on him for another few hours before he'll be out of danger."

Ron nodded his head. "Shego you stay with him so as to calm him when he wakes. He is bound to freak out when he finds himself cocooned in plants. I'll go downstairs and bring up our food so we can eat here and be ready to feed Drakken and get some fluids in him." So saying Ron made for the elevator.

Shego continued to look at Ivy after Ron was gone and finally she sighed. "I'm sorry I jumped to the wrong conclusion…"

Ivy held up a hand to stop her. "Don't. If Harley and I had come across this guy outside and we had never met you or Ron we wouldn't have lifted a finger to help him and would have left him to die. I'm doing this for you." Ivy crossed over to Shego and taking a hand she placed it on Shego's cheek and gently caressed it. "Normally the only person I've ever cared one wit about was Harley but…" Ivy continued to stare into Shego's green eyes. "I've come to care for you and Ron and would do anything for you two as I would Harley."

Even after three months of living with Harley and Ivy constantly and even though Shego had come to think of them as family, she was still a little uncomfortable with showing them affection. That was usually Ron who did that and Shego would just kind of join in. There was two ways she could deal with Ivy's heartfelt admission. She could brush it off or…

Shego picked the second method as she closed the distance between them and pulling Ivy into her arms, she kissed Ivy. Some of it was part of gratitude for her helping Drakken but a much larger part was just because Shego suddenly desired to do it. A moment into the kiss and Shego could feel Harley had joined them and had her arms wrapped around both her and Ivy, hands that were slowly lowering from their waists to their butts.

"Have I died and gone to heaven?" Shego heard a weak voice ask.

Breaking off the kiss, all three women glanced over to see Drakken lying on a nearby flower bed nearly completely covered with vines and leaves peering at them.

Shego sighed. "Trust you to ruin a magic moment Dr. D." She said but with a touch of humor in her voice. "So how do you feel?" She asked as she pulled away from the other two women to kneel by the flowerbed.

"Oh for a hallucination this one isn't too bad." Dr. Drakken in a weak voice muttered. "So much better than that mad coco moo cow attacking me in the desert."

"Coco moo cow?" Harley asked as she joined Shego at the flowerbed.

Drakken's eyes tracked to her face and then looked up and down her body.

"I always pictured you as having red hair in my fantasies of Shego making out with a woman." Drakken told her. "And why aren't you wearing your French maid outfit Shego?" Drakken added looking reproachfully at Shego. Well as reproachfully as you can with your entire body covered in green plants with just your eyes and a bit of your mouth showing.

Harley blinked a few times and then glanced over at Ivy.

"He's still a little out of it. Some of it is no doubt from his ordeal but the plants mixing their essences to heal him could be causing a little of it too."

Drakken hearing a new voice managed to turn his head slightly to look at Ivy. "Ah there you are. I always knew Shego had a thing for you Kim Possible…. But why is your skin green?"

"I do not have a 'thing' for Kim Possible!" Shego roared while Harley placed both hands over her mouth to keep from laughing out loud. Ivy however just folded her arms across her chest. "I do not look like Kim Possible. I have a bigger chest than she does for one thing. The only thing we have in common is red hair." Ivy then glanced over at Shego and asked with just the tiniest amount of doubt in her voice. "I don't look that much like Kim Possible do I?"

Shego instantly knew what Ivy meant. "No you don't and that is not why Ron or I care for you. I wouldn't let Princess ever touch me, well maybe in a fight but never touch me the way you have touched me." She assured the red head.

Ron down in the kitchen finished loading down a rolling cart with the food stuff. Pausing for a moment, he reached into the refrigerator and pulled out a pitcher of chocolate milk knowing Drakken's love for the stuff but then with a thoughtful frown he put it back inside once again. While Drakken would no doubt love to get his hands on some 'coco moo' he also had a fever and milk and fever tend to add up to nauseousness. Pushing the milk pitcher to the side of the refrigerator, Ron reached into the back and pulled out a small case of bottles of mineral water. Ivy on one of their shopping trips together had gathered up a collection of them and taste tested each brand. Some she frowned at, some she spat out as soon as she tasted it and a few she threatened to sue the companies for trying to pass off tap water with flavoring as 'natural' mineral water but one brand she had been deeply satisfied with and from that point on all the group were required when drinking water to drink nothing but that bottled water.

To Ron water was water but Ivy assured him that there were far more dangerous things in normal tap water than all the chemicals he had faced as a sidekick stopping mad scientists so Ron had accepted her expertise and made a deal with the mineral water company to have the water specially delivered to his home. Not only did the humans (and one naked mole rat) drink the water but a large storage truck was delivered twice a month so Ivy's plants could drink the stuff too.

Ron paused as a long slow smile broke out on his face as he remembered that Ivy was so particular on water that she insisted that they all bathed in the mineral water as well and since it was kind of expensive, this usually meant bathing together, an experience that Ron highly recommended.

Ron shook the pleasant memories from his mind and adding a few fresh fruits to the tray he finally decided he was satisfied with his choices and pushed the laden cart over to the elevator.

As the elevator rose, Ron could hear Shego and Ivy talking and the light crazy mutterings of Drakken.

"…And next we need to get some baby oil for you all to wrestle in." Drakken's mutterings could be heard.

"Would you please stop with your damn fantasies?" Shego growled.

"Why baby oil and not mud?" Ron could hear Harley asking.

"Why because mud obscures the finer details of the human anatomy and really messes up the camera angles." Drakken rambled.

Ron felt himself nodding that Drakken had a point there.

As the elevator finished its ascent Ron could see Ivy holding Shego back from physically stopping Drakken's delirious mutterings while a smirking Harley was lying prone next to Drakken in the flower bed egging the man on by asking questions.

"Which one do you think would look best in nothing but baby oil?" Harley asked.

"Oh definitely Shego. While Kim Possible is definitely hot looking, Shego has this amazing darker green tint to her areolas that the baby oil would make glisten in such a provocative way."

Dead silence met this statement. In Ron's case, he froze as the mental image of a naked Kim covered in oil stirred emotions in him that he had hoped he had firmly and forever buried.

In Ivy's case, she was still insulted that the man kept thinking she was Kim Possible and she couldn't help but think with her green tint her areolas would glisten just as enticingly as Shego's. Not that she wanted this Drakken person to ever have a chance to compare them of course.

In Harley's case, she was struggling to keep from laughing. The whole scene was just too funny. A guy wrapped up like a mummy in green plants discussing in detail his fantasies involving Shego and then him mistaking her Pammy for that screeching red head Kim Possible? It was just too funny.

In Shego's case, she was livid in anger and about to reach the boiling point. "How do you know what my breasts look like?" She growled dangerously to an oblivious mumbling Drakken.

"Shower cameras of course. Do you think a genius like me would miss such an obvious security need like that?"

The silence in the room took on another meaning as everyone, well except Drakken who was now staring down his nose to admire the flowers on the plants covering him, turned to look at Shego.

"I am going to kill him now." She calmly stated and started towards Drakken, her hands lighting up with her plasma fire.

Ron leapt the distance separating them to grab Shego by her arms, avoiding her flaming hands of course and tried to hold her back. Ivy looked mildly annoyed. "Shego my plants spent so much time trying to heal the damage done to him, it would be a shame to waste their efforts. If you are going to kill him wait at least until my plants can pull away from him so you don't hurt them as well."

Harley just scrambled to get out of the way of the incoming devastation.

Ron continued to try and hold her back as Shego seethed in anger. "Ron get out of my way." She growled at him.

"Now Shego, Dr. D. is half dead as it is. You don't want to harm a helpless person do you?"

"He spied on me when I was taking showers, the dirty old man!"

"Aww come on Shego, cut the guy some slack. If I were in his place, I would have done the same thing. I mean how can you expect a mere man to resist trying to get a peek at you when you look like a goddess all the time?"

Shego paused for a moment and Ivy carefully hid a smirk behind a hand. It was amazing how Ron had Shego twisted around his little finger and vice a versa.

"It doesn't bother you that Drakken saw me naked?" Shego finally asked Ron.

"I didn't say it didn't bother me." Ron replied. "Just that I could understand his desire to do so, now if he had tried to touch you? I would be holding him up so you could thrash him but just looking?"

Shego finally put out the flames covering her hands.

"You are lucky Ron is here." Shego said to Drakken.

"The buffoon?" Drakken muttered trying to peer over at them with blurry eyes. "He is not supposed to come into the fantasy until later."

Everyone blinked and then looked at Ron and Shego.

"I don't know, and I don't want to know." Ron stated and then to Harley. "Can you raise him up slightly so we can get some water into him?"

Harley nodded and started to sit back down beside Drakken. Drakken peered at her as she came near. "I don't know you but if you want to 'raise' me I will allow it."

Harley's eyebrow rose slightly. "Not in this life time buddy." She told him as she placed a hand behind his plant covered back and pulled him up into a sitting position. Accepting a bottle of water from Ron, she opened it and placed it to Drakken's lips. As Drakken finished his bottle of water, Ron handed Harley a slice of peach to feed him.

"Hey how did I get elected to take care of him?" Harley pouted as she watched Rufus sitting on the cart eating the cheese laden food on it gleefully. "You better save me some of that Rufus!" She yelled at him.

Rufus seemed ponder for a moment and then gave a shrug as if to say, maybe I will, maybe I won't.

"You were closest to him." Ivy smirked at her. "That is what you get for egging him on."

They managed to feed Drakken most of several peaches and about four bottles of water before he tiredly blinked his eyes. "Sleepy time." He muttered and nearly collapsed on Harley who was holding him up, she laid him back on the flower bed and he was asleep in seconds.

Shego glanced over at Ivy. "He'll be fine. The plants I'm using tend to make one sleepy and he was exhausted in the first place."

AAAA

With Kim and Agent Will Du

AAAA

Kim sat on the passenger side of the car with her arms folded and occasionally glaring at Will Du who was driving. She had given her word that she would follow his orders without complaint and she was a woman of her word but that didn't mean she had to fake being happy about it.

"Are you going to tell me where we are going?" She finally asked.

"There has been a report of a break in at the local museum. Security guards reported seeing a woman shaped shadow moving along the roof top of the museum moments before the silent alarms were tripped. Global Justice has been monitoring police reports in the hopes of finding leads on Shego, Harley Quinn or Poison Ivy so when we heard the call we used our unofficial official status to pull back the police and museum security so we can handle it." Will Du explained.

Kim unfolded her arms and leaned forward in the car as if she could force it to go faster. "Do we have anything concrete that it is one of the women holding Ron hostage?"

"Nothing." Du had to admit. "Except it was a female form reported and that whoever they are was wearing black."

Kim mused to herself more than to Du. "I doubt it is Shego, she is better than that to trip an alarm."

"This is usually true." Du agreed with Kim. "But there hasn't been a sighting of any of them in months. Perhaps she has gotten rusty. In any case it might be either Quinn or Ivy, we have no examples of their skills in cat burglary so maybe they are less skilled that Shego?"

"Maybe." Kim answered but lacking conviction. From the brief contact she had had with the two extra dimensional criminals, she had a feeling they were at least as efficient as Shego was.

Bonnie lowered herself down to the floor of the museum from a skylight on the roof and wondered what all the fuss was made about crime and criminals. This was easy. She didn't realize that the skylight 

whose lock she had forced had a silent alarm hooked up to it or that she had been spotted climbing the outside of the museum.

Bonnie once standing on the floor of the dimly lit museum began to wonder what she should steal. The whole purpose of this was to prove to Ron she could be as good a criminal as Shego was so she had to steal something impressive but at the same time this was also a chance to impress Ron whose motto was never be normal so it had to be something unusual or exotic.

"Maybe I can find a carved stone statue of a naked mole rat? That would really impress Master and it might get me some points with Rufus as well." Bonnie whispered out loud to herself. The problem was… Bonnie had always considered herself too cool to visit museums so outside of a few boring field trips when she was in High school; Bonnie had no idea what exhibits a museum normally carried. Of course, there were the always present giant dinosaur bones but that was hardly a practical thing to steal.

"Which way to go?" Bonnie muttered to herself. Feeling a slight pull of intuition coming from one direction and having no better ideas Bonnie went that way, seeing a sign in the dim lights that said, "Hall of jewels." She knew she had picked the right way.

Entering the exhibit hall Bonnie felt her eyes grow large and a slow smile break out across her face. Behind thick glass walls were such nearly legendary gems as the Middletown Star, a star sapphire gem that was reportedly found by the founder of Middletown and right next door to it was the Harlequin Ruby, a gem on loan to the Middletown museum from England. Various other gems on exhibit filled the rest of the semi circular room.

Bonnie did a slow spin of happiness. This was it! This would impress her Master completely. She would take the Middletown Star for Ron, the Harlequin Ruby for Harley and… Bonnie stopped her spin. She needed some kind of green gem to impress that woman with the red hair, what was her name again? Oh yeah, Poison Ivy. If she could find a green gem for her she would be able to impress all of them and be assured that Ron would let her stay. Once she founded where he and the rest of his slaves had gone, of course.

Looking around Bonnie spotted a series of stands and velvet ropes that roped off the central section of the room. In the center was a glass case that had a plaque that said. "Luna Stone." Frankly, Bonnie couldn't see what the fuss was about, the rock in the case wasn't even pretty, just a crude looking lump of gray metallic looking rock.

With a shrug, Bonnie disconnected one of the velvet ropes from its stand and picking up the heavy brass stand, she slammed it hard against the glass window that had the Middletown Star behind it. And… The brass stand bounced off the glass without even scratching it.

Bonnie set the stand down and shook her hands trying to get feeling back into them after the vibration of hitting the glass.

"Oh, bulletproof glass. I guess I should have expected that." Bonnie said out loud.

"Yeah you should have." A voice Bonnie knew too well called out from the entrance to the room. Spinning she looked over to see Kim Possible standing there.

Kim eyed the woman in the dim room by the lights coming from the exhibit cases. The lights were not bright enough for Kim to make out any details of the woman but she did appear to be athletic enough to be Shego and in the dark the woman's hair might have been black and also the voice Kim had heard whispering to herself sounded familiar but if it had been Shego she would have just burned her way through the security glass and not wasted time by trying to break them with a stand.

"Who are you?" Kim asked as she started to edge into the room. Bonnie backed up against another stand as she tried to keep away from Kim. For all her insults Bonnie had hurled at Kim over the years, she knew she was no match for the trained fighter and her only hope was to escape. Feeling the velvet rope attached to the stand by the ends of heavy metal hooks, Bonnie silently unhooked the rope and started to slowly gather it to her while slowly turning to keep Kim in front of her.

Hearing a noise at the entrance to the room Bonnie risked a quick glance and saw a man standing there she didn't recognize. The man didn't bother to say anything but raised a arm with a watch on it and reached over to press it. Sensing the man was aiming some kind of weapon at her; Bonnie reacted instinctively and flung the heavy hook tipped rope in his direction. She had no hopes of hitting him but she hoped she would at least mess up his aim.

Will Du fired his paralyzing tazer at the woman thief at the same moment she flung a rope at him. The tazer trailing out fine wires was hit by the flailing rope and knocked off course, directly into Kim who was launching a flying kick at the woman's now unprotected side. The effects were immediate as Kim let out a slight cry and crashed down to the floor like a sack of potatoes. Will Du of course immediately tried to cancel the tazer but he was also struck down by the return swing of the rope as Bonnie spun flinging it out again. Will Du caught totally off guard was struck in the temple by the heavy weighted hook end and was knocked unconscious. His tazer continued to fire into Kim who eventually passed out from the shock leaving a stunned Bonnie standing victoriously in the room.

"I won?" Bonnie asked the silent room. "I WON!" She shouted with glee but then realized she was still no closer to the gems in the cases than she had been a moment before.

Stomping her foot in irritation Bonnie noticed a small pouch on the unconscious Kim's belt. Remembering all the times Ron had bragged about Kim and his adventures in High School and the few times Kim had corrected Ron, just to get the facts straight not to aggrandize her part of course, had mentioned a few of the gadgets they habitually used.

Bonnie who had been jealous of Kim had tried not to listen of course but you couldn't keep from it. Walking over to the prone Kim she quickly went through the items in the pouch. There was the incredibly small but powerful grappling gun that looked like a hair dryer, a powder compact that somehow Bonnie doubted was just filled with innocent makeup and a lipstick.

Bonnie held up the lipstick, while it was true that Kim's makeup was always perfect, Bonnie doubted that Kim carried such an item with her on missions to fix her face and way in the back of her mind Bonnie could remember Ron once bragging how Kim had used… Bonnie bit the edge of her lip as she tried to remember… A laser lipstick to cut through some ropes.

Bonnie removed the cap off the lipstick and pointing it at the glass of one of the display cabinets she twisted the end and a bright cheerful red laser beam came out of the tube to start cutting through the glass as if it were mere butter.

Using the laser Bonnie quickly cut open the display cabinets of her choice and collected the gems inside. Not only was this a sweet victory because Bonnie had officially started her career as a criminal but the fact she was using some of Kim's own equipment to do it made it even sweeter. Hearing a groaning noise from near her feet, Bonnie switched off the laser and looked down to see Kim starting to come to. Thinking quickly she pulled the compact she had pocketed from Kim's belt pouch and opening it, she blew it into Kim's face. She had just intended to blind Kim so as to make Kim less of an opponent once the red head got back to her feet but Bonnie was thrilled when Kim took one breath of the powder being blown and immediately dropped back to the floor and began snoring.

"Knock out gas?" Bonnie said out loud. "Ronnie forgot to mention that in any of his stories back in high school."

Bonnie went back to examining the display cases as if she was a kid in a candy store with an unlimited shopping spree. Finally, she found exactly the type of stone she thought would appeal to Poison Ivy. A huge emerald called the Tear of the Jungle. Cutting open the case, she gathered it up and dropped it into a pocket in her costume along with the rest of the gems. Turning she jumped when she noticed the man at the entrance of the room was now awake and back on his feet and was pointing that damn watch at her again.

"I don't know who you are but you won't get a lucky shot in a second time." Du promised her.

Bonnie who was still clutching the laser lipstick in her hand turned it in his direction accidentally cutting open the case in the center of the room containing the Luna Stone. Du ducking the dangerous beam and noticed that the woman's wild swing with the laser had obliterated his tazer darts in mid air, thus proving he was wrong. This thief had luck all on her side this night.

Gathering himself, Du made a leap towards her in hopes of bringing the thief down before she could try to cut him in two with the laser a second time. His flying tackle however met a cloud of powder from a compact in the thief's hands before he could touch her and he crashed to the ground asleep before he could hit the floor.

"I can't believe how easy crime is." Bonnie remarked to once again silent museum room.

Making to leave the room, Bonnie stubbed with her toe on an item lying on the floor. It was the Luna Stone from the display case. Bonnie eyed the ugly lump of rock but then with a shrug she picked it up 

and added it to her haul. It was ugly but it was the center attraction in the room, that had to mean it was valuable in some way, didn't it?

And Bonnie deciding to be thorough in her pilfering of items from Kim undid Kim's belt and took the whole thing. Belt, pouch and accessories and belted it around her waist. It was an ugly fashion statement that clashed with her costume but Bonnie had to admit it was useful.

Bonnie with a final smile at the unconscious duo then left the room and went back to the skylight and in a matter of moments, and with the fortune mistake of Global Justice telling local police and museum security to stay back, she made a clean escape. The only ones to see her go was the birds nesting in the trees and one dark shadow that if anyone could have examined it in detail would have found it contained one female ninja.

Yori debated for a moment following the criminal but her orders from her sensei had been pretty clear. Follow Kim till she got close to stopping Ron and then prevent her from doing it. Whomever the woman dressed in black was, Yori was fairly certain she had nothing to do at the moment with Ron so she let her go.

Bonnie walking by the river in the dark had pulled her mask off and was almost whistling in her pleasure of her first crime going off without a hitch. She continued to open pockets on the belt that used to belong to Kim and examined the items she found. Opening the largest pouch, she found a small device slightly larger than a cell phone. Noticing it had a screen Bonnie pondered on what it could be and idly pressed a few buttons on it. Suddenly the memory of seeing Kim talking to someone on a screen in her locker back in high school popped into her mind and just as Bonnie made the connection, the device in her hand came to life to reveal the face of a young black man looking at her. In panic Bonnie flung the device away from her hoping that the person hadn't gotten a good look at her uncovered face and she watched as the device flew over the railing and into the river and was gone.

Wade tiredly blinked at his computer screens. His computer systems had gone off signaling that Kim wanted to talk to him but that was not Kim's face that he had briefly spotted before the Kimmunicator had shown flashes of dark scenery before showing nothing but water.

Sighing Wade pressed a few buttons on his keyboard and activated the homing mechanism in the Kimmunicator to fly it back to him. Kim had some explaining to do before Wade would give her the device back again.


	15. Chapter 15

Partners in Crime

By Weirdbard

Chapter 15

In the cool dim pre-light of dawn, Ron sat on the steps of the gazebo in the center of the island and watched the still waters of the man-made lake. He was alone, as he had snuck out from the greenhouse where they had all slept last night.

It would have been the ultimate in romantic settings if it hadn't been for a snoring Drakken in a nearby flowerbed. Lying on a softer than clouds flowerbed with Shego on one side, Ivy on the other and Harley lying across the flowerbed at their heads, staring up at the visible stars through the glass ceiling of the greenhouse. No one had said anything that night, words seemed somehow needless and Ron had just basked in the comfort and companionship. The only things to ruin the mood had been the aforementioned snoring and sleep talking Drakken a few feet away and Ron's memories of spending similar nights lying on a hill top staring at stars with Kim.

Ron sitting on the steps of the gazebo entrance to the underground home winced. Would he never be completely rid of his feelings for Kim? Ron honestly knew he was in love with Shego and thought she was in love with him and then there were the feelings he had for Ivy and Harley. With so many women having a place in his heart, why was there still a tiny piece that yearned for a woman who thought he was so inferior to her that she couldn't bare his touch? Ron let out a sigh and glanced at the darker shadows near the boat dock and a small outcropping of rocks near the water's edge.

"So guys…" Ron said in the direction of said shadows. "Still here are you? I don't suppose this morning is going to be any different than any other and that you are going to suddenly decide to make yourselves known and tell me why Sensei has you watching me?" Ron waited but there was no movement from either shadowy area. "Yeah that is what I thought."

Ron had been aware almost as soon as his group moved into the house that there were ninjas nearby. It was almost like an itch caused by his Mystical Monkey Powers that he couldn't scratch that let him know they were near, but they never made their presence officially known. Ron fearing at first that the shadow warriors were watching meant that the Sensei was angered at Ron's choices and Ron tried to contact him but no matter how he meditated Sensei never responded. It was Ron's constant listening to see if he could catch the ninjas that had allowed him to hear Drakken weakly beating on the glass of the greenhouse last night.

Today was the first that Ron decided to let the ninjas know that he knew they were there. "You couldn't just let me have the tiniest of hints whether Sensei is pleased or annoyed by what I'm doing could you?" Ron asked rhetorically. He knew the ninjas wouldn't reply.

Nothing but a breeze in the wind confirmed Ron's theory. "Right. Well I've brought up a couple bottles of mineral water and some food. Can't be easy to find anything to eat or drink out here in the desert and I can't help but think the lake water isn't all that refreshing or tasty." Ron nodded down at a basket sitting next to the steps he was sitting on. "Feel free to help yourselves and if you need to keep the whole 'we are not here' thing going you can always leave bird or animal tracks near the basket so I'm left guessing whether you got the food or not."

Getting up Ron walked back into the gazebo structure and sank back down into his underground house. A few moments went by with nothing but the early morning breeze stirring the sand outside of the home's artificial oasis and suddenly there were two dark shadows standing next to the stairs staring down at the basket. One shadow raised its head to look at its colleague. An almost imperceptible nod was its reply and the second shadow bent at its waist to open the basket and pulled out a sandwich. This it tossed to the standing watchful shadow and then pulled another sandwich out for itself. The two bottles of mineral water were next to disappear into the shadows and as dawn continued to lighten the skies both standing shadows shrank back to the boat dock and rocky outcropping where they had came from.

Ron entered the kitchen that was his pride and joy of the underground dwelling he now called home and he idly pulled opened the refrigerator and looked inside trying to decide what to cook for breakfast this morning. Hearing a slight sound from behind him he turned quickly and found it was Ivy standing behind him.

"You have excellent hearing and reflexes but you appear extra nervous this morning." Ivy casually commented. Ron gave a smile and a brief shrug and turned to stick his head back inside the refrigerator.

"Is it because you are jumpy from those two ninjas outside?" Ivy asked.

Ron resisted the urge to utter a string of curses as he banged his head on the edge of the refrigerator as he straightened too fast. Turning he looked at Ivy and raised one eyebrow as he continued to clutch his sore head. "How?" Was all he asked.

Ivy smiled. "I am more than just really good with plants Ron, you know that. I have an emphatic sense with almost all plants and some I can actually communicate with. The flowers and the grass on the island have been telling me about the strangers for the last couple of weeks. I debated on whether to tell you but I noticed every time we left or came back here how you would always pause and listen, so I quickly figured out you knew they were there as well."

Ron wasn't quite sure what to make of Ivy's oh so casual comment on being able to talk to the plants of the island but then again after being kissed and groped by her mutant tulip in the greenhouse, Ron was 

more than willing to accept anything about Ivy dealing with plants. "Have you told Harley or Shego about them?"

Ivy shook her head. "I figured if you wanted us to know, you would have told us… But since you now know that I know… Why are there ninjas watching us Ron?"

Ron sighed and turning back to the fridge, he pulled out two cold bottles of mineral water and motioned Ivy to have a seat at the table. "Well, it's like this…" Ron then proceeded to tell Ivy all about Monty Fisk, mystical monkey statues, hidden and secret ninja school and powers that came and went but recently seemed to obey his slightest whims and Ivy listened to it all.

"…And that is my story. I probably should have told both you and Harley all about this before now but…"

Ivy waved away Ron's apology. "Hey there are things you still don't know about me and Harl. There is no reason to apologize but the question right now is… What are those ninjas doing watching us? Do you think they are here to stop you, guide you, or just to observe?"

Ron could only shrug. "Why do you think my powers are suddenly so responsive to me?" Ron countered with a question of his own. Ivy had real powers maybe she had some insight that Ron had failed to find.

Ivy shrugged herself. "You are more comfortable with who you are now? Or maybe before you were subconsciously holding the powers back because you didn't want to compete with Kim? I honestly don't know but the important thing is what is it you want to do with these powers Ron?"

"Well I'm using them to help us generate money for this house." Ron replied a little defensively.

"And never for a moment don't think Harley and I don't appreciate that Ron and I especially appreciate you funding my plant research and needs. But what I meant Ron is what are your long term plans? What do you want to do with your power?" Ivy watched Ron closely. "Do you want to be the biggest criminal kingpin there has ever been? Do you want to buy a real island somewhere and settle down with Shego? Or do you want to take over the world?"

Ron gave a thin grin. "You and Harley are getting restless aren't you?"

Ivy gave a slight shrug. "In my case not really, I'm happy when I can work undisturbed on my plants and Harley as long as she has bright lights and a little excitement now and then is happy. This is truly about you Ron. What is it you want?"

Ron frowned and took a long drink of his water. "I don't understand. I'm happy with you all here with me. What more could I possibly want?"

Ivy watched him for a moment. "Ron, criminals or maybe a better term would be villains to differentiate us from common thieves and petty miscreants do the things we do because we are driven by something. Sometimes it is social injustices that were done to us long ago and we want 'society' to pay. Some of us commit crimes because of ego, we want people to know and fear us and some of us do the things we do 

just because we're bored of being 'normal' people. Harley could explain this better than me, after all she was the one who used to be a shrink but what I'm asking is what is motivating you to give up your normal life to do this?"

Ron paused for such a long time that Ivy was beginning to think he was not going to answer her but finally he spoke. "I'm not sure I ever had a 'normal' life. My parents never really seemed to want me around or were comfortable being around me. Then I met Kim." Ron swallowed hard and Ivy knew it was difficult for him to go on but after a moment, he continued. "She was my only friend. Everyone else shunned me because as kids can do they sensed something was different with my parents and me than themselves and their parents and tormented me because of this difference but Kim liked me and accepted me. Not just her but her whole family welcomed me with open arms. They were the family I never really had and often they let me stay at their house over night." Ron gave a slight shrug. "But a kid can't stay every moment with a family that is not his own. I had to go back to my lonely house sometimes. Finally, I got Rufus as a pet and when I couldn't be around Kim, the little guy was there to cheer me up and keep me company. Eventually in high school I made a few more friends but none that knew me as well as Kim did, I suppose it was inevitable that I would fall hopelessly in love with her."

Ivy said nothing but just listened.

"She knew the real me and accepted me… At least I thought she did."

"What happened?" Ivy finally asked. She knew that Ron and Kim had broken up not long before she and Harley came into the scene, Ron had told them that it was because Kim would run off with other men but she always sensed there was more to the picture.

Ron took a long low ragged sigh. "You remember that day in the warehouse when you, Harley and Shego were captured by Global Justice?"

Ivy nodded her head.

"And I told you that Kim found your lipstick?"

Again a nod.

"She used it on me." Ron said.

Ivy's eyebrow raised. "What did she make you do?"

"She…" Ron swallowed and then scrubbed at his eyes with the palms of his hands. "She made me watch as she pleasured herself all the while telling me that she was too good and too pure to let me touch her in this way." Ron's voice broke. "The woman I had thought that had accepted me all my life for the person I was, thinks that I am inferior to her to such a degree she can't imagine having sex with me because it would somehow stain her perfection. Somehow contaminate her perfection and she can't have that." Tears began to run down Ron's face and Ivy quickly crossed to him and took him in her arms. Hearing a noise, she glanced over to the entrance of the kitchen to see Shego standing there looking at her in question.

Ivy holding on to Ron raised one of her hands from his back and gestured for Shego to join them. As Shego walked over, Ivy gently turned Ron until he was facing Shego and then pulled Shego into her place comforting Ron. Shego instantly wrapped Ron into her arms and asked him what was wrong.

Ron just continued to silently cry.

Shego again shot a questioning look over Ron's shoulder to Ivy who was watching them.

"Ron finally told me what Kim did to him." Ivy explained quietly.

Ron finally stopped crying and pulled back from Shego slightly. "You wanted to know what it is I want to do with my powers and my life?" Ron asked Ivy.

Ivy nodded her head.

"I want people to remember my name. I want them to respect me and know that I am no loser. I am not some reject that no one wants. And I want a family that knows who the real me is and accepts me for me."

Shego turned him to look at her. "Part of that you have already done Ron. We know who you are and we love you for it."

Ivy smiled as Shego once again wrapped Ron in her arms and she silently left the kitchen so the two could be alone.

AAAA

At Global Justice with Kim and Du

AAAA

Once again, Kim found herself standing in front of a highly annoyed Dr. Director.

"Let me hear your report one more time." Dr. Director said. As Kim opened her mouth, Dr. Director shot her a glare and looked to Du. "From you Du."

"We entered the museum and quickly made our way to the exhibit hall that contained the rare gems exhibits. We could hear someone inside there talking to themselves. Agent Possible wanted to take the lead and I allowed it. As I entered the room behind Agent Possible, I witnessed a woman dressed all in black facing Agent Possible. Deciding to not take any chances with the unknown assailant, I raised my watch in preparation to shooting the assailant with my taser. I must have made some kind of noise, although I am unaware of what it could have been because the assailant turned to face me as I fired my 

taser. With expert moves, the assailant lashed out with one of the security ropes that had marked off the central area of the room and actually managed to deflect my taser darts into Agent Possible. Before I could shut off my device, the assailant had whipped the rope around once again and hitting me in the head knocking me unconscious."

Dr. Director then turned to Kim. "Your turn now, anything to add first to Du's report?"

Kim shook her head. "It is a fairly accurate report of what had happened to that point." Kim took a deep breath. "When I awoke from the accidentally tasering, I saw the woman had rifled the pouches on my belt and was using my own laser to cut through the glass exhibits and was stealing the gems…"

"Did you recognize this woman?" Dr. Director interrupted to ask.

Kim shook her head. "No. It was too dim in the room for me to make out who she was. But she must have been someone I have fought before."

"Explain?"

"She knew that my compact contained knock out gas because as I struggled to regain my feet she blew the gas into my face knocking me out once again."

Agent Du nodded his head drawing Dr. Director's attention to him again.

"When I came to I found that Agent Possible was unconscious on the floor with the assailant standing over her, I quietly retracted my taser darts and reloaded my watch. I was about to shoot the assailant when once again she somehow sensed me and as I fired, she swung the laser she was using and sliced the taser darts to pieces and then tried to cut me down. I ducked and as the assailant turned off the laser I made a dive for her to tackle her. It was then the woman used Agent Possible's compact on me rendering me unconscious once again. Both agent Possible and myself regained consciousness at the same time to find the assailant had made good their escape."

"An escape that is deeply humiliating to our organization. We pulled strings to get the local police and museum security guards to pull back to let us handle it and now we have one of the largest thefts of rare gems to ever be recorded." Dr. Director said sourly. "We people are losing our status and reputation among government officials. If this doesn't stop soon we may have our funding permanently cut! Okay. What can we deduce from the crime last night?"

"Well the amateurish way the lock on the skylight was forced seems to imply a rank amateur." Kim stated.

"But the practiced way the assailant handled both Agent Possible and I imply a seasoned pro." Du added.

"Unless it was just lucky shots she managed to get in." Kim stated.

Du looked thoughtful. "Once maybe? But twice?"

Kim reluctantly agreed. "Yeah, they would have had to have been the luckiest person in the world."

"So, the forced lock was done deliberately to draw us to that location?" Dr. Director asked. "For what purpose?"

"To flaunt their abilities in our faces?" Kim asked. "I still don't believe it was Shego, Ivy or Harley I was facing last night. Maybe one of my older foes trying to show me that they are still in the game?"

"Whom?" Dr. Director asked. "Adrena lynn would seem the most likely candidate but she is at the moment incarcerated."

"Perhaps it wasn't a real woman at all." Kim mused.

Dr. Director frowned at her for a moment before her expression cleared. "One of Drakken's Bebe robots?"

Agent du looked thoughtful. "It would explain the almost phenomenal skills in which she kept deflecting and then destroying my taser darts."

"But the bebes have super speed and strength." Dr. Director pointed out. "Why would they go through such an elaborate subterfuge?"

"Maybe Drakken wanted us to think it was a normal woman so to hide the fact that he no longer has Shego with him and has gone back to using his robots again?"

Dr. Director nodded her head. "That makes a certain amount of sense. For if Shego was back with the Doctor he would have certainly used her to do the robbery."

"So what does all this mean?" Kim asked.

"Well the one thing we can be certain of, is that Dr. Drakken still has no idea where Shego is or has had any contact with her."

AAAA

Ron's desert home

AAAA

A bleary eyed and wearing nothing but dusty dirty boxer shorts and a T-shirt Dr. Drakken wandered into the kitchen and over to the refrigerator. Opening it, he removed a pitcher of chocolate milk and opening a cupboard at random was lucky enough to find the glasses, filling the glass with the drink, he took a long appreciative swallow. It was only then that he noticed Shego and Ron holding each other in another part of the kitchen.

Blinking a few times he finally said out loud. "I'm not in my lair am I?"

Shego released Ron and shot Drakken a glare. "Do you practice to enable yourself to ruin special moments Dr. D?" She asked as Ron wiped the tears out of his eyes.

Drakken with a long practiced ease ignored Shego's question and really looked around the kitchen he found himself in. The last thing he remembered clearly was nearly dying of thirst in the desert and then he awoke this morning to find himself lying on what looked like a flower bed. Stumbling around half conscious, he found an elevator enclosure made of green shrubbery. Drakken was so out of it that he thought he had almost seen a giant flower lower down in his direction before taking a sniff and then pulling away as if disgusted. Still in a daze, Drakken had randomly picked a direction once he found himself in what appeared to be some kind of living room area and by chance had found the kitchen and this brought him back to where he was now.

Refilling his glass with the chocolate milk, he took another long drink before looking at Shego. "Where the hell am I?" He finally asked.

Ron now back in control of his emotions laughed and gestured to a chair at the table. "You are in my home at the moment Dr. D. Sit down and I'll make you something for breakfast and then you can explain what brought you here."

Drakken blinked at him and then said what was next on his mind. "And you are?"

Before Ron could answer, Harley barreled into the room with Ivy a few steps behind her. "That nutjob from last night is missing." She said to Ron and Shego not noticing Drakken standing a few feet away. Ivy however spotted him instantly and putting a hand on Harley's shoulder she turned her to look at him.

"Oh there he is." Harley continued without a pause.

Drakken seemed to ponder for a moment and then stated. "Definitely one of my stranger hallucinations." Before he took another gulp of chocolate milk.

Drakken though a bit self conscious with the way everyone at the table was watching him intently, finished the last of his Seafood Benedict that Ron had fixed him, which was the same thing as eggs Benedict except instead of ham, lobster is used, since Ron was Jewish and didn't have any ham in the kitchen.

"That was excellent…um, whoever you are." Drakken said to Ron.

Harley frowned at him. "He is the guy who saved your life last night by hearing you outside our home. He's the guy who is feeding you and insisted we take care of you. I think the least you could do is remember the guy's name." She nearly growled at him.

"Um, yes of course…" Drakken replied a little unnerved by the petite blond's aggression towards him. He was used to it from Shego but from another woman was a new experience for him. Turning he looked directly at Ron. "Um… It's something that begins with an S…."

"That's okay Dr. D. I would be stunned after all this time if you could remember my name."

Noticing the still angry Harley sitting next to him Drakken raised a hand. "No. I can do this. I'm a genius you know. Um.. Scrapable? Um, Scooby? No, that's not right. Stoppable? No, that's just silly."

Ron sighed. "Yeah that's me. Silly Stoppable."

Shego frowned at him in annoyance and sighed.

"Stoppable? Really?" Drakken muttered. "Wait. That's it. Ron Stoppable, right?"

Ron nodded his head. "Yeah, Ron Stoppable that's my name."

Drakken well pleased with himself for remembering the buffoon's name leaned back in his chair and placed his hands behind his head to stretch.

"Oh phew!" Harley grunted and pulled away from him as her eyes started to water from the stench coming off of him. "You reek. I'll never be able to eat in this kitchen again from the memory of the smell."

Drakken insulted quickly lowered his arms again. "With what happened to me I'm not surprised I am slightly less than fresh."

"Ivy's fertilizer she uses on her plants is slightly 'less than fresh' you smell like Gotham City sewers at low tide." Harley replied holding a hand up and pinching her nose close.

"And what exactly did happen to you?" Shego asked.

Drakken still glaring at Harley didn't seem to hear her.

"DRAKKEN." Shego yelled.

The poor man managed a jump while sitting in a chair and looked at her with slight fear. He knew that tone of voice from her. It meant pain was about to be dished out and he was going to be the most likely recipient of the pain.

"What?" He asked timidly

"I think Shego would like to know what happened to you since the last time we saw you at the lab with the Transdimensional Vortex Inducer." Ron replied calmly while Shego glared at Drakken.

"Oh yes, of course."

"The place where you abandoned me after Kim Possible and these two showed up." Shego reminded him.

"I prefer to think of it as getting out of the way so you could fight better Shego. I had completely confidence in the fact you would win. Um, what happened after I left anyway?" Drakken replied.

"I lost." Shego stated flatly.

Drakken blinked and then coughed. "Um, well. You wanted to know what happened after I left?" He asked to change the subject.

Shego still glaring at him nodded her head.

"Well I returned to the time-share lair I have with Dr. Dementor …"

"Time-share lair?" Harley asked interrupting him.

"I'll explain it to you later, even though it doesn't make much sense to me either." Shego told her.

"Ahem. As I was saying before I was rudely interrupted." Drakken stated as Harley stuck her tongue out at him. "I returned to the time-share lair and began to finalize my brilliant plans for world conquest that I was going to start as soon as Shego returned with the Trans…um, thingy but she never showed."

"Translation." Shego inserted. "He went back to the lair and started baking cookies while he waited for me to show up to give me more orders to steal stuff for him."

Drakken frowned at her. "In any case, while I was plotting and waiting for Shego to return I was visited by Global Justice and Kim Possible. They asked a series of questions…"

"What questions?" Shego asked.

"Nothing that made any sense, questions like here would you go if you were injured and for some reason couldn't return to me? That kind of thing."

"What did you tell them?" Shego asked already with sinking feeling in her stomach.

"I told them that you would probably lie low and try to take care of it yourself."

Shego breathed out a sigh of relief.

"But they wouldn't leave it at that and Kim Possible in particular got a little violent so I gave them the name and address of that quack I know you went to a few times." Drakken added.

"You turned over Mozenberg?" Shego practically growled. She started to rise to her feet to try and lean over the table to get her hands around Drakken's throat but was stopped as Ron placed a hand on her shoulder and she calmed almost immediately at his touch, a fact that was not unnoticed by the cowering Dr. Drakken. Once he knew that she wasn't going to leap the table to throttle him he continued. "They were so concerned on where you were they didn't even take me in but left after telling me to keep my 

nose clean. Me? Can you imagine? Ignoring a super genius like me so they could hunt down a mere henchwoman… er, I mean.." Drakken faulted as Shego glared yet again at him.

"What happened after they left." Ron asked. Drakken shot him a blank look. "How did you get here Dr. D?" He added in a little exasperation of his own.

"Oh. Well I realized that since they knew where I was at, that sooner or later they would try to remedy their mistake and come back to take me in so I packed up and left. But then I realized I had nowhere else to go and my finances were slightly depleted."

"You were broke." Shego corrected.

"Not completely." Drakken corrected her. "I had your last paycheck which I hadn't deposited since you hadn't shown up so I decided to use that as my nest egg to try and build my financial resources back up. And I had my ingenious method of winning money at Blackjack to fall back on so I made my way to Las Vegas."

Shego held up a hand to stop him. "Please tell me you are not talking about that cockamamie system you told me about that one time? The one where you randomly pick a casino, go in and sit down at a Blackjack table and if the dealer is a woman with blue eyes you double your bet each time, no matter how much you lose until you make a fortune?"

Drakken frowned at her again. "Not quite Shego. My method is if the woman has green eyes."

Shego groaned and covered her eyes with a hand.

"So which casino did you decide to try?" Ron asked.

"The Pot of Gold over the Rainbow Casino." Drakken replied.

Ron blinked a few times. "Dr. D? That casino hires nothing but women with red hair and green eyes. If a woman applies for a job there and doesn't have red hair or green eyes she has to agree to wear a red wig and green contact lenses." Ron knew because when he was utilizing his method of Mystical Monkey Power controlling dice he had went into the casino but seeing so many women with red hair and green eyes and having so many reminders of Kim Possible before him, he had turned and exited immediately. It was only after talking to some people in other casinos that he found out about that particular casino's usual hiring practices.

"They do?" Drakken asked. "That explains why my method failed! The dealer I had must have been using green contact lenses and thusly messed up my system! I was cheated!"

"Yeah. That is the only reason your method didn't work." Harley said with a roll of her eyes.

"Exactly." Drakken stated nodding his head.

"So what happened after you lost all your money?" Ivy for the first time spoke to him.

"Er, I… Do I know you?" Drakken asked for the first time really looking at Ivy and Harley.

"Oops sorry doc. I forgot you ran out at that lab before introductions were made." Ron said rising to his feet to walk over and stand behind where Harley wearing green pajamas and her hair up once again in pigtails looking like a little kid was sitting cross-legged on her chair at the table. "This is Harley Quinn." Ron then walked over to stand behind the chair Ivy was almost lounging in. "And this is Poison Ivy. You owe her your life. She is a genius when it comes to plants and her plants healed you of your injuries after we brought you in."

Harley thought about extending her hand towards Dr. Drakken but considering how he stank she decided not to. Ivy merely nodded her head at him.

"A plant expert is it? Have you ever tried to breed mutant plants by crossing animal D.N.A. with them?" He asked curiously. His story already being forgotten as his mind raced with new 'take over the world' plans.

"Been there, done that." Ivy admitted nonchalantly.

"You were telling us what happened after you lost all your money at the Blackjack tables." Shego reminded him. Ron quickly walked to sit back down beside Shego and placed his hand on her knee under the table to keep her calm.

"Hmm? Oh yes. Well after my finances were so cruelly cheated out from under me by that casinos trickery, I went in search of a loan. I found this very nice person on the streets of Vegas who said he would be willing to loan me the money so I could continue to try and build my operating expenses back up. His name was…" Drakken's face went blank like it did every time he tried to remember Ron's name.

"Let me guess." Shego said. "Was it something like Lenny, Alfonse or Vinny?"

"That's it! Vinny the Shark." Drakken said snapping his fingers. "I really don't know why he had the nickname the Shark. His overbite wasn't that noticeable."

Ron and Shego stared at Drakken as if he was an idiot while Harley giggled behind a hand and Ivy just shook her head in disbelief. "You use to work for this guy?" She asked Shego.

"He paid well." Shego replied in defense.

Drakken looed at everyone at the table as if he was missing something but after a moment, he shrugged. "I borrowed five thousand dollars and went back to the tables but my method continued to be thwarted by what I now know as their cheating by altering the looks of their dealers. I told Mr. Vinny that I had lost the money I borrowed and need more and he had told me that was unfortunate that he couldn't loan me anymore and I had to have the amount I borrowed plus 45 interest in two days. I knew we could work something out and went to acquiring money outside the casino to gain resources."

"You begged outside the casino?" Shego asked.

"Please. I do not beg. I was only asking for financial aid so that I may continue my plans on world domination. The individuals who gave to me were only insuring their own freedom once I take over the planet. Anyway, the two days passed and I was on my way to explain things to Vinny when these two thugs grabbed me and dragged me into a van and started beating on me. I must have passed out from the savage beating they gave me because the next thing I knew I was being buried in the sand in the desert up to my head. My assailants gave a few more kicks to my face and left me there. It took me quite a time moving only a fraction of an inch at a time to dig myself out of that predicament and try to find my way back into town." Drakken paused to take gulp of chocolate milk.

"I was almost about to give up when I spotted a faint glow in the darkness and saw what looked like a sand dune next to a lake glowing. I figured it was another hallucination but went towards it anyway." Drakken blinked. "I'm afraid that is all I remember outside of some very strange dreams."

"That's quite a story Dr. D." Ron finally said. "So what are you going to do now?"

"Eh?"

"He means where are you going to go from here?" Harley explained. "You can't go back to Vegas again. One you don't have any money and two if those thugs see you again they'll take you back out to the desert again and this time they'll bury you upside down in the sand."

"Ah, yes. I see your point. Couldn't I just say here for a while?"

"NO." Shego replied instantly.

"Shego I am surprised. After all we have been through together you would kick me out into the merciless sun to dry up and blow away?" Drakken asked dramatically.

"It is BECAUSE of all we have been through together that I'm kicking you out." Shego growled.  
"Not only did you abandon me in a fight and didn't even try to find me to see if I was okay, you blew my last pay check!"

"I knew you would be okay on your own." Drakken defended himself.

"Yeah, pity I can't say the same of you Dr. D. I'm gone for less than four months and you almost ended up as desert dinner for some vultures." Shego sighed. "This isn't my home exclusively though. I'll bide but what the others vote. Should we let him stay, just for a while?"

Harley crinkled up her nose. "Not unless he takes about ten to twelve showers first." She looked him up and down. "And he agrees to wear some damn clothes while he is here and under no circumstances does he join us for fun time nights."

Drakken looked offended. "Of course I will take a shower and as for clothes…Um, I don't have any?" He looked over to Ron.

"Yeah, I'll see about getting you something while you are here Dr. D."

Drakken nodded and then looked back at Harley. "And why can't I join in fun time? I am quite good at board games and the like."

"And we already know how good you are at cards." Ivy added with a smirk.

Drakken ignored her.

"Fun time here doesn't involve board games and there is no way you are joining us." Harley flatly stated.

Ivy nodded her head. "On that last point I agree. He can stay but when we get together, he is not to be around."

"Oh you can count on that." Shego readily agreed.

Drakken looked to Stoppable. "Sorry Dr. D. but what they are talking about? I too have to agree. You can't join us on those nights."

"Fine, fine. While you four have your fun time nights I'll just stay in a room and amuse myself."

Harley giggled behind a hand.

AAAA

Global Justice

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Kim wearily flipped through pages of a book. The book contained photos of all known female criminals. Some Kim had fought against directly and a few she never had the 'honor' of meeting in person. Will Du had set her the task of searching through the mug books looking to see if she could find the mystery assailant from last night. Du and Dr. Director were leaning heavily towards believing that the attacker had been one of Dr. Drakken's latest Bebe robots but Du was a exceedingly through man and insisted that Kim exhaust all the usual suspects first.

Kim idly wondered to herself how he expected her to identify someone she never really got a good look at their face. While it was true, there was something familiar about the woman's shape and form last night and Kim had a sneaking suspicion in the back of her mind that she had known the woman; Kim couldn't put her finger on anything concrete.

The large central monitor in Global Justice flickered to life and Kim glanced up to see Wade looking down at them from it. Dr. Director whom had been conversing with Du to one side glanced up as well.

"What do we have the honor of this call Wade?" She asked.

"I just thought I would ask Kim how she lost her Kimmunicator last night?" Wade stated.

"You found it?!" Kim asked getting to her feet excitedly.

"Not exactly. Early this morning, I was woken up by the Kimmunicator's signal. Thinking it was you I stumbled to my computer only to find myself looking at a woman's face I didn't know." Wade explained.

"You saw her face clearly?' Dr. Director asked sharply.

"Not exactly." Wade admitted. "It was half in shadows and as soon as the woman saw me on the screen she threw the Kimmunicator away. I recalled it using my remote controls. I have this strange feeling I've seen the woman somewhere before though."

Kim frowned. Now even Wade was thinking the woman looked familiar. Whom did she know that Wade would have seen the woman as well? He knew Monique but there was no way that was Monique last night and Wade knew her enough he would have recognized her if it had been her.

"Is there nothing you can tell us?" Will Du asked. "Facial features? Skin Coloring? Hair coloring?"

Wade looked thoughtful. "The Kimmunicator lit up her face but it was still very dim and she didn't give me much of a chance to really look at her. I think I can say for certain that she was white and had brown hair but that is about all I can honestly confirm."

"Why would she call you with the device in the first place?" Dr. Director mused.

"Perhaps it was just a mistake?" Wade asked.

"I doubt it." Will Du replied. "We've reached the conclusion that this is a seasoned pro wanting for some reason to appear like an amateur. No, I believe they contacted you as some kind of silent gloat. A game of figure out who I am if you can." Will Du said rubbing his chin thoughtfully.

"Brown hair." Kim mused to herself. "Who do I know that has brown hair and is an enemy of mine?"

AAAA

Bonnie's house

AAAA

Bonnie with a contended sigh rolled over and sat up on the edge of her bed. She was wearing a lacy black nightie that she someday hoped to model for her Master Ron, before he ripped off of her Bonnie hopped.

Glancing at the door to her bedroom to make sure that the chair she had braced against it to keep it shut if one of her sisters were to unlock it, she then reached under her pillow and pulled out three of the gems she had stolen last night for her Master and his favored slaves. The Middletown Star for Ron, the Harlequin Ruby for Quinn and the Tear of the Jungle for Poison Ivy and tossing them up into the air Bonnie began juggling them. Bonnie's smile of contentment suddenly crashed and losing her concentration the rare and valuable gems fell to land softly on her bed.

"Oh no! I forgot about that Shego person! I can't show up and present my gifts to Ron and the other women without something special and representative of her. It would be like an insult!"

Bonnie quickly dove to her pillow and pulling it back looked at the other gems she had stolen along with the ones she had been juggling. There were a few diamonds and some small emeralds and even a small amethyst but none as large or as grandiose as the other gems and then there was that ugly large metal looking Luna stone.

"I give that ugly piece of rock to Shego she'll fry me in a second." Bonnie thought out loud. Sighing Bonnie nodded her head. There was only one thing for it. She had to make a special trip out tonight to steal something extra special for Shego before she could even start to look for Ron.

"Oh well. If everything goes as smoothly as it did last night, it'll be a piece of cake and I have all day to decide on the perfect item to steal for Shego that will impress her and Ron with my thoughtfulness."

Bonnie's smile returned and slowly grew larger. "And then I can start searching for my Master and his slaves and join them." She practically squealed in delight at the thought.


	16. Chapter 16

Partners in Crime

By Weirdbard

Chapter 16

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Author's notes: Okay I am playing a bit fast and loose in this chapter with Harley, Ivy and Shego's past. Some of it is based off comic books, some various cartoons and others I'm just plain making up as I go along. No disrespect is meant to the characters.

AAAA

Whipping up a quick chef's salad for lunch Ron called the others from the various places they had gathered to come eat. Harley for a change was the first into the kitchen and was still wearing her satin green pajamas and was sitting at the table when Drakken made his appearance.

Ron having made a quick run into town by himself this morning had purchased for the mad scientist to wear an expensive Italian suit similar to the one Ron himself now wore and Harley took one look before giving a slow whistle. "Wow Dr. D. you clean up nicely."

Drakken with a large smile swept a hand back through his black hair and adjusted the sports jacket he was wearing. "Do you really think so?" He asked preening.

"Well… It would be hard to look worse than you did this morning so anything is an improvement." Harley stated.

Dr. D. visibly deflated.

"Harley don't be mean. You look good Dr. D. Really sharp and sexy." Ron assured him.

Drakken eyed Ron for a moment. "No offense but I would prefer to be told that by a woman. You aren't gay by chance are you?"

Harley laughing nearly hysterically fell off her chair to lie on the floor.

"It's not that I have anything against gay people if you are. Just that I am not interested." Drakken added only causing Harley to laugh harder.

Ivy and Shego walking into the kitchen together, looked at the rolling on the floor laughing Harley and then at an annoyed looking Ron and finally at Dr Drakken in his new designer Italian clothing. "Okay, what did we miss?" Ivy asked for the both of them.

"Drakken…. Asked Ron… If… He… Was… Gay." Harley barely managed to say between bursts of laughter.

"You accused Ron of being gay?" Shego said, her hands lighting into fire.

Drakken backing up raising his hand defensively and said hurriedly. "I only told him if he was coming on to me that I was flattered but not interested."

Harley who had almost managed to regain control burst into a fresh gale of laughing and even Ivy hid a smile behind a hand.

"Ron is not gay. Trust us, we know." She told Drakken.

Harley finally regaining her breathing pulled herself weakly back into her chair still chuckling said. "Dr. D came in here… And I told him he cleaned up well… And the man started fishing for more compliments… So I told him that anything was an improvement over how he looked this morning… He got his feathers all ruffled so Ron told him I was just teasing and that he…." Harley broke down in giggles again. "That… he looked fine. "

"And that is when he accused Ron of being gay and coming on to him?" Ivy supplied as Harley started snickering again.

"Ron is more of a ladies' man than you'll ever be." Shego told Drakken in disgust and turned off the flames covering her hands.

Ivy noted, but didn't really care, the way Drakken's shoulders slumped and the depressed look that came over his face at Shego's words.

"If we have gotten that all straightened out." Ron said placing a plate of food in front of Harley. "Maybe we can have lunch now?"

Harley at the term 'straightened out' started snickering again only to stop instantly as Ron moved her plate away from in front of her to the other side of the table. "Aww come on Ronnie! It was funny! Can I puhleeeeze have my lunch?" She asked fluttering her eyelashes at him.

Ron after a moment slides the plate back in front of her once again, but as he did, he leaned over and whispered into her ear. "Just imagine if I was gay and me and Dr. D. were to go at it hot and heavy on this very table."

Harley with a look of disgust on her face puts down her fork she had picked up and pushed her plate away. "That was uncool Ronnie. You killed my appetite."

Ron hid a grin on his face as he quickly served the others. Eventually Harley pulled her plate back to her and started eating.

After lunch and the rest had left the kitchen to do whatever it was they wanted to do, Ron quickly cleaned up. Being the cook, Ron could have argued that the others should be the ones to clean up but 

Ron didn't mind sharing even that duty and today was his today to clean. Finishing the chores Ron decided to see what Harley was watching in media room.

Opening the door, he spied her sprawled on the leather couch watching TV. Closing the door to the media room behind him Ron made his way to the couch and sat down.

"Daytime TV sucks here like it did in Gotham." Harley muttered. Turning she glanced at Ron. "And I am desperate to find something to dislodge that image you put into my mind this afternoon of you and Dr. D. doing it."

"Serves you right for laughing at me." Ron said but with a grin showing he wasn't being serious.

"I wasn't laughing at you but just to the side of you." Harley said with a mock pout and pointing a few inches to Ron's left before smiling herself. "So you want to watch something with me?" She asked as she pulled herself up into a proper sitting position on the couch.

"Not really. I thought we could talk." Ron stated.

"Talk?"

"Yeah Ivy mentioned how there was so much I didn't know about you and her, and I want to."

"I'm an open book for you Ronnie. What do you want to know? Mind you if you keep me out of the library for too long there will be some…"Harley licked her lips and stared at Ron. "Penalties that will have to be paid."

Ron raised an eyebrow but then grinned. "I might get my library card revoked?"

Harley grinned as well. "Oh no, hardly that, you'll just have to work on my Dewey Decimal System till I'm satisfied you can put your finger on any resource of mine at a moment's notice." Harley quickly flipped herself from where she had been sitting on the couch till she was now straddling Ron's waist and had her hands on his shoulders pushing him back against the couch. "I know how could good you are with your fingers after all." She stared into his eyes for a moment before she sighed. "You really want to just talk don't you?"

Ron nodded his head but he did allow his hands to caress Harley's hips and legs as she sat on his lap.

Harley worried her lip with one of her perfect white teeth. "I won't be able to say much if you don't stop doing that." She finally said.

Ron stilled but didn't remove his hands from her outer thighs.

"What did you want to know?"

"I was curious about your life before you ended up working at that Arkham place you and Ivy have mentioned." Ron said.

Harley sighed. "Well I went to college to study psychology of course. The first steps to being a shrink for the crazies. I did well in college even though I had to dodge passes by both my fellow students and the randy instructors."

"You weren't a party animal in college?" Ron asked a little surprised. He figured someone like Harley must have been the life of the campus.

"Nope. I was quiet and studious for the most part. You see my father died when I was little and I made a promise to my mother that I would work hard and make something of myself." Harley's eyes grew a little misty and Ron was beginning to wonder if he had made a mistake asking about her past. "One of my very last classes before graduation was when things started to slide downwards." Harley continued but Ron was now not sure if she was talking to him or just remembering out loud. Her eyes had a distant look in them and the threat of tears glistening in her eyes was evident.

"The old goat wouldn't take no for an answer when he suggested my grades might improve if I were to sleep with him. I was outraged. I had studied hard for his classes and I knew the material. I didn't have to be anyone's whore to get a good grade." Harley sighed. "Things finally came to a head and I had to tape record him propositioning me to try to protect myself from him failing me just because I wouldn't put out. There was an investigation where the college wanted to sweep everything under the carpet and take his word against mine but I had proof so in the end they graduated me with all the grades I had legitimately earned."

"That was a good thing then, right? I mean that was the end of it?" Ron asked.

Harley stopped staring off in the distance and looked into his eyes. "I wish it had been Ronnie but the school had a way of dealing with 'troublemakers' like me. Even though my grades were good they managed to let it be known that I was difficult to work with and all the prestigious mental hospitals I wanted to work at wouldn't accept me. They would subtly let me know that I wasn't 'good enough' for them so in the end I took a job at Arkham Asylum for the Criminally Insane."

"That place had a bad reputation I take it?" Ron asked.

"Oh the psychoses and aberrations in that place could make a psychologist rich in writing case studies alone." Harley said reminding Ron that no matter how bubbly and empty headed she appeared at times, that it was all just an act and a very intelligent mind resided behind her baby blue eyes.

"But it was the fact that Arkham had a habit of taking people who work there and either make them dead, maimed or deranged in the end that kept it from being anyone's first choice for a career profession. Life expectancy wasn't great at Arkham, and once you worked there, no matter how short a period, everyone would be nervous and suspicious around you from that point on. The lucky few that did manage to get transferred or quit their jobs all together spent the rest of their lives with people around them taking bets when they too would snap from their experiences."

Harley took a deep breath. "And since I was the newest intern to work at Arkham they put me in charge of the most dangerous individual in there."

"The Joker you have mentioned before?"

Harley nodded her head. "He looked so…" Harley paused. "It's hard to describe Mr. J. to someone who has never met him. I wouldn't say innocent because the man gives off an aura of danger and menace even when he is just sitting in a chair and I know of no one who can look at the permanent smile on his face without having their blood run cold. But he could be charming when he wanted to."

"How did you let yourself fall for him if you knew he was so dangerous?" Ron asked the question he had been dying to know ever since first hearing about this Joker person.

Harley sighed again. "It's complicated Ronnie. I didn't come from a happy go lucky family like so many do. My father left us when I was a child and ended dying in some bar fight somewhere.

There was just mom, my sister and I. Mom and sister would use to take turns telling me that I wasn't living up to my 'potential' and that if only I tried harder…" Harley was silent a moment. "Even after landing the job at Arkham I would get calls from mom saying things like, if you had only tried harder we could have been so proud of you but now you are working where the dredges of humanity go to be forgotten."

Harley looked into Ron's eyes if searching for something. "Things were hard then Ronnie. I had no friends in Gotham. My colleagues considered me to be almost disposable by assigning me to the Joker's case so they didn't bother talking to me. People were whispering as I walked the hallways how long it would take before I cracked or the Joker killed me. I was 'dead woman walking.' And no one thought I was worth shit… Except Mr. J. You see, as part of his therapy prescribed by the head of Arkham was the idea that normality had be enforced at all costs. So I was supposed to talk about my life to try and lure Joker into talking about his life before the accident that made him into the way he was. The old coot that ran the place figured this was the easiest and quickest way to reach the patients by showing them that they were just people like you are. Of course, most patients you try that crap with, well they are eager to talk about themselves but most of what they will tell you are lies or delusions and they will tune you out when you talk about your life. Well, Mr. J. didn't. He would listen intently as if taking notes and he would ask questions showing he was paying attention and was genuinely interested in what you were saying."

Harley paused for a moment and Ron felt his heart ache by the haunted look in the young woman's eyes. "At least I thought Mr. J. was interested in me. Of course, now I know he was only taking notes on things he could use to break me and reform me into one of his sick twisted jokes. Eventually Mr. J. started feeding back to me everything I had told him but only with the twist on it, that everyone was laughing at me. That I was a joke because I wasn't as good as they were. I wasn't good enough." Harley squeezed her eyes together and tears started to run down her face.

Ron gently placed his hands on her face and using his thumbs, he gently wiped her tears away. Once Harley opened her eyes, he told her. "I am so sorry for stirring up these bad memories Harley but you do know now that the Joker was wrong don't you?"

Harley looked at him in question.

"You are good enough. You are better than good enough."

"You are just saying that cause I have a great body." Harley weakly tried to joke. She almost gasped, as Ron's face grew stern and serious.

"I don't just say things Harley. I mean them. I value every moment we spend together and I thank my god that I met you and Ivy."

"But you don't love me like you do Shego?" Harley asked even though she knew the answer already.

Ron's eyes shifted just slightly but then locked back onto hers. "As you don't love me as you do Ivy."

Harley smiled slightly. "Touché. But I do care for you Ron."

"As I do you too Harley."

As Harley slide off of Ron's lap to sit on the couch beside him, both of their eyes glanced at the TV to see a commercial about starving children in some African country.

"Those poor kids." Harley muttered to herself.

"Kim and I were there one time you know." Ron said.

"What happened?"

"We were sent to help guard a shipment of food and supplies. Kim and I thought it was to protect the shipment from thieves or profiteers. It was only after we were over there that we find out we were suppose to protect it from the starving people so the government could utilize the supplies as they saw fit." Ron gave a humorless laugh. "Kim almost started an international incident when she found out and tried to throw open the warehouses to the starving people."

"The people weren't getting the food?" Harley asked horrified. Hunger and poverty was a staple of her dimension as well of course but at least they had honest organizations like the Wayne Foundation that would use their clout to make sure the food and supplies got to those that needed it.

Ron sadly shook his head. "The government over there has the attitude that the villages suffering the most are not as worthy of being saved as their own military so they take the donations given by the world and for the most part use it to keep their military fed and clothed while the common man suffers."

"And the other governments allow it?"

"As you said earlier Harley, it is complicated. Everyone wants to do something but no one wants to take the responsibility on themselves to be the ones to do it. Kim and I tried but our own government pulled us back because of fear that things might 'diplomatically' break down."

Harley seemed to get more, more depressed so Ron taking the remote switched channels to a cartoon network, and within moments she was smiling and laughing at the cartoons and if Ron were to notice a touch of artificial gaiety to her laughs and a few tears in the corner of her eyes he didn't mention them to her.

Wandering back to the kitchen after he was sure Harley was engrossed in a cartoon for real, Ron sat down at the table. Hearing a noise, he spotted Drakken entering the kitchen.

"Um, sorry about earlier and accusing you of being gay." Drakken said awkwardly.

"Don't sweat it Dr. D. I have nothing against gay people and who knows? If I were to meet the right man I might reconsider my own feelings but…" Ron thinly grinned. "I doubt it though. I like the women too well."

Drakken sat down at the table. "So the way Shego, Ivy and Harley reacted…."

Ron just calmly waited for Drakken to ask the question that was obvious.

"Have you and one of them … Um, been together?" He finished with a whisper.

Ron chuckled slightly. "Yes and to answer your next question, all of them."

Drakken's eyes widened. "Well that does explain Shego leaping to your defense and the comment that you are a ladies' man. Do the others know you have, um been with the others?"

It took Ron a few seconds to translate Drakken's badly worded question but then he nodded. "They know about it. They are usually all present at the time."

Ron watched Drakken's eyes widen as he suddenly realized what 'fun time' meant and for several moments the blue man obviously imagined what it must be like to make it with several attractive women at the same time. "Can I ask you a question Doc?" Ron asked.

Drakken glanced up sharply. He hated when someone said Doc instead of doctor but he nodded anyway. "It seems I owe you my life so you may ask whatever you want."

"Why did you become a villain in the first place? I mean in everyone's life there is a single moment they can look back on and think that is what started them on the path they are on today. What was yours?"

Drakken seemed surprised to have such a deep question come from someone he had always thought of as 'the buffoon' but he just nodded his head. "Indeed looking back there was a single moment that started me on my path. I was in college and had a group of friends. I was kind of on the outskirts of the group but I was still part of them."

Drakken leaned back to stare at the ceiling of the kitchen. "I had met this gorgeous young woman and of course I was sweeping her off her feet with my charm and grace." Drakken opened one eye to see if Ron was buying it. By the raised eyebrow, he could tell he wasn't.

"Oh, okay. Maybe I wasn't sweeping her off her feet with my charm but at the same time, she wasn't walking away as I tried to talk to her. That was a first for me. I do believe she was a little interested in me at least. And then that infernal person came up and with just a few words took my angel from my side and left me alone."

"Who?" Ron asked curiously.

"Possible." Drakken growled.

"Oh come on Doc, Kim and I were not around when you were in college."

"I wasn't referring to Kim Possible but her father James Possible." Drakken sharply stated.

"Oh? That's right you knew Dr. Possible in college."

"He was part of my circle of 'friends'. " Drakken said making quotes with his fingers in the air. "Possible monopolized time with the gorgeous woman of my dreams but he couldn't bring himself to ask her on a date. A dance was coming up and our group, I don't know if it was a joke on their part or just they were even more tongue tied around members of the opposite sex than I was, but they asked me to find them all dates." A look of pain crossed Drakken's face.

"I tried. I really did. I faced my fears of rejection, put myself on the line for not only myself but also my friends, and asked every single woman I could find. They all turned me down flat. I didn't want to let my friends down so I tried to build a date."

"Yeah you told me that once before. Remember when you had the Bebe robots kidnap Dr. Possible and the others?"

"You were there then?" Drakken asked genuinely confused.

"Dude, if you remember I was disguised at Dr. Possible and your Bebe robot captured me instead of him?"

Drakken looked thoughtful for a second but then shook his head. "Sorry I don't remember that."

Ron eyed Drakken for a moment before shaking his head. "You really do have some kind of mental block when it comes to me, don't you? You can't ever remember my name and you barely remember my assisting Kim in stopping you all those times."

"I remember that it was you that always pushed my self destruct buttons in my lair." Drakken replied with a slight scowl.

Ron waved a hand in dismissal. "All water under the bridge now. So your Bebe robot didn't exactly wow Possible or your friends I take it?"

Drakken gave a sad shrug. "I wasn't quite the genius back then as I am now. The first prototype was a painful and embarrassing failure and my friends from that day forward laughed and ridiculed me at every turn. Eventually I dropped out of college and vowed that someday I would prove to them that I was just as good as they were!"

Drakken looked over at Ron. "Does that answer your question?"

Ron nodded his head and started to get up but paused. "One last question. That woman Possible stole away from you? What happened to her."

Drakken was quiet for a long moment. "Let's just say that if Possible hadn't swept in and took her from me when he did, Kim Possible might have had another father."

Ron blinked a few times and then not being able to think of anything to say to that turned and left the kitchen to Drakken and his memories.

Riding up the elevator to the green house Ron pondered on what he had found out so far this day. Reaching the top, he was prepared as the giant tulip descended to wrap him in its tendrils.

"And how are you today beautiful?" He asked the plant. Ron couldn't be sure but he thought the tulip actually blushed. As the tulip pressed its lips to the side of his face Ron gently caressed the side of the plant and felt it shudder almost in ecstasy. After a moment, the plant slowly lowered Ron to the ground and almost reluctantly removed its tendrils from his waist.

"Must you try to seduce every female you come across?" Ivy asked but with a smile on her face as she watched her guardian plant pull back into the shrubbery.

"I don't really try you know. I guess it is just my boyish charms and good looks." Ron joked.

Ivy's smile grew a little larger. "Well what brings you to my greenhouse?"

"I've been getting to know everyone a little better." Ron explained as he fell into step with Ivy as she started making her daily rounds checking and watering her plants.

"Can you get to know us any better?" She asked with a raised eyebrow. "You already know more about my body than anyone else except maybe for Harley."

"I didn't mean like that. We've all lived together for months but we've never really talked. You know what I mean? Really talked." Ron said. "I mean I've been talking to everyone about their past trying to decide something about myself."

Ivy stopped to look at him curiously. "What?"

Ron sighed. "Maybe I am just trying to figure out what makes us all mesh so well together or maybe I am trying to decide what to do with my powers like you advised me to do?"

"And now it is my turn?" Ivy asked sitting on the edge of a raised planter.

Ron nodded his head. "If you don't mind me asking about your past?"

"Not at all. What do you want to know?"

Ron was actually a little stumped, he wanted to learn as much about Ivy as he could but she always gave off such an aura of aloofness, now that she was willing to answer his questions, his mind went blank. Seeing a tiny tendril of plant from the flower bed Ivy was sitting on extend towards her hand and curl around her finger and the gentle way Ivy patted the plant tendril he knew what his first question had to be.

"When did you and plants become so close?'

Ivy smiled. She had been expecting that. Everyone wanted to know how and when she first started to talk to plants, even the shrinks in Arkham.

"When I was a kid, my parents and I never really got along too well. Mom had given birth to me but I wasn't exactly planned if you know what I mean."

Ron nodded his head sadly. He knew exactly what she meant.

Ivy looked at Ron and she felt he knew exactly what she meant. A moment later, it was confirmed as Ron glanced at the ceiling of the greenhouse where sunlight was flooding in from and said almost as if to himself. "They never come right out and say, 'we never wanted you', but they miss important dates like your birthdays and always seem to find a reason to be away from home and leave you by yourself. They never give you a voice in important family matters but just do them and when you comment on it they say things like, 'this is our way of telling you.'" Ron glanced at Ivy. "Things like that?"

"Yeah." Ivy agreed. "In my case it was when I would come home from school instead of asking how my day was; my mom would just tell me to go outside to the garden so as not to make a mess inside the house." Ivy looked at the plants surrounding her in the greenhouse. "Growing up I never had any normal friends. I had the garden. I would put on shows for the flowers where I was the avenging princess of some distant kingdom swooping in to save my plant subjects from horrible pig faced like warriors that wanted to rip them up just to be cruel." Ivy turned to stare fully at Ron. "You know you are the very first person I have ever told that to. Not even Harley knows about my childhood."

"Why is that?" Ron asked her.

"She never asked."

"So, you had your ability to talk to plants since childhood?"

Ivy smiled. "Oh no. Back then, I was just a child pretending they could hear and react to me. Although the flowers in the garden did flourish but I imagine it was more my constant care of them than they actually liked my presence. Then again, I do now know that plants are far more aware of things around them than most humans give them credit for. Maybe they did enjoy my plays? Who knows for sure? No, my abilities with plants came about much later in my life. I grew up went to college and became a botanist. It was my first job working with a huge chemical company that changed my life forever."

"What happened?"

"I was doing research on global warming and its destructive force on nature…"

"What's that?" Ron asked curiously.

Ivy blinked at him. "I keep forgetting that I'm not in my own dimension any more. Your dimension doesn't have that problem… Yet." Ivy sighed. "Global warming is the effect that too much human made pollution has on the environment. You see fossil fuels that make up gasoline release carbon dioxide into the air. Add to that a mixture of other chemicals human use every day and before long, you have in effect a giant blanket of chemicals surrounding the planet that raises the temperature. Just a few degrees too far in one direction and the planet starts to die. Anyway I brought my conclusions to the head of the company naively thinking he would want to do something to stop it." Ivy gave a brief laugh. "I forgot that the company I worked for made most of the chemicals I was condemning in the first place."

"They fired you?" Ron asked.

"Oh no. They tried first to get me to shut up about my research by promising me lots of money. What good is money if your world dies? Then they threatened to lie about my credentials and tell the world I was a crackpot if I released my findings to the media. And then they tried to kill me when nothing else would work." Ivy replied matter of factly.

"What?"

"The company was in the processes of manufacturing a super intense new fertilizer for plants, dangerous and disgusting stuff, the same thing as humans pumping their bodies full of steroids to artificially make themselves bigger but in this case doing it to plants. Some goons hired by the owner of the company hauled my research and I to the experimental vats and threw me in. After the fertilizer 'cooked' for a while, it would then be put through a fine grinder to make a powder out of it. They wanted to make sure my voice would be thoroughly silenced."

Ivy was quiet for several moments, just as Ron was going to ask her to continue she did on her own. "That was the first day I heard plants moaning in pain."

"What plants were moaning?"

"The test plants they were trying that goop out on. The plants were growing but not because they wanted to but because they were being forced to beyond what they would normally be capable of." Ivy saw Ron almost involuntarily glance at the shrubbery that covered the elevator exit. "I don't force plants to grow in the ways I want them to Ron, I ask and they do it. The chemicals I use in my experiments are always just what the plants produce naturally and I concentrate it slightly. I never would do to a plant what those idiots at the company were trying to do. The first signs of distress from any plant and I stop immediately what I'm doing."

Ron was quick to assure her that he didn't for a second think she caused her plants any pain.

"Anyway, a plant grew up to the side of the vat and with its help I pulled myself out. My skin was forever to have the slight green tint you know me for now and my body chemistry was altered. Toxins and poisons have no effect on me anymore."

"Was there any negative side effects?"

Ivy smiled at Ron. Trust him to not think a green tint to skin marking one as a freak was not a negative side effect but then again considering whom he was in love with, that wasn't that much of a surprise after all. "I can never have children. The chemicals destroyed my reproductive organs completely." Seeing Ron's stricken look Ivy gestured at her plants. "Don't be sad for me Ron, I have all the plants in the world as my children."

"You said my dimension doesn't have global warming yet?"

Ivy nodded her head. "In my dimension things were so bad I give them another 50 years and the whole planet will probably die. Here? From what I can tell your planet has maybe a 100 years before things wind down."

"That's horrible." Ron cried.

Ivy shrugged. "I've come to realize as long as men who care more for profit than for Mother Nature run things it is inevitable."

After a few more words, Ron eventually left Ivy to tend to her beloved plants and wandered back down to the living quarters of his home. There was just one more person inside the house he had to talk to before he made his decision and she was in her room.

Knocking on the door, he waited.

"Who is it?" Shego's voice called out.

"Ron."

Shego opened the door immediately. Over her shoulder, Ron could see Rufus was at the desk in the room hopping on the keys on the computer sitting there.

"You aren't playing Everlot again are you Rufus? Wade is bound to be looking for you online and track us." Ron said worriedly.

"Don't worry about Ron. I forged him a new player ID. He had to start back at the very beginning but I've made sure we've disguised his playing style and picked a name that won't set off any warning bells. He enjoys the game so much." Shego told him.

Ron reluctantly nodded his head. He was probably being overly paranoid about the computers in the house but then again it was Wade they were talking about.

"So what are you doing here?" Shego asked sitting on the edge of her bed. "Should I send Rufus out?" She asked with a playful raise of her eyebrows.

Ron allowed his eyes to rest on all of her curves before he once again reluctantly shaking his head. "Not this time. I just wanted to ask you a few questions if I could?"

Shego frowned but then shrugged. "Of course, anything you want to know."

"Why did you stop being a hero and leave your brothers?"

Shego blinked. Sure, she had said anything but Ron knew how sensitive she was about what had happened with her brothers. "Not that." She stated flatly.

"Please Shego. I want to know everyone in this home as well as I can and I don't know why you made the most pivotal decision in your life."

Shego sighed and looked away from Ron for a long moment. Turning back, she frowned but nodded anyway. "Okay. You want to know? Fine. But sit down it is a long story though."

Ron sat down beside her on the bed and the only sounds in the room for a while was Rufus's jumping on the keys of the keyboard.

"It was after my brothers and I got our powers from the comet that crashed into our house. You know that part, right?"

Ron nodded his head.

"My brothers decided that super powers meant we had to become super heroes. I agreed at first thinking it would be fun but the problem with being a hero is sooner or later you attract villains. People wanting to prove something. Early in our career, we attracted someone just like that. He called himself Surprise Package Pat."

Ron blinked and almost laughed but the fact of how serious Shego looked stopped him.

"Surprise Package Pat?" He asked.

Shego nodded his head. "Lame name but he was a dangerous lunatic. He would leave bombs at places disguised as packages. Sometimes UPS packages and sometimes brightly wrapped birthday gifts. He was blowing up buildings all over Go City but before each explosion, he would leave clues on where he was going to destroy next. Well one day my brothers and I got one of his clues and I argued that the clue obviously referred to Go City's Children's Hospital. My brother…" Shego grimaced. "Well you've met Hego and know how clueless he can be. He insisted no villain would be as heartless as attack a hospital filled with children and he insisted the man meant a doll factory. We argued back and forth about it till the time neared for the explosion and finally my brother told me..." Shego paused.

"What did he tell you?" Ron prompted.

"That I was just a girl and by definition didn't have the brain power to understand the cryptic clues and he ordered me to go with them to the doll factory."

Ron sighed. "Let me guess. You were right and that maniac blew up a hospital?"

Shego couldn't look at Ron but stared down at her hands. "I knew I was right but I allowed my brother to talk me out of going to the hospital. I let him convince myself that I wasn't as good as he was just because I was a female." Finally, Shego looked up and met Ron's eyes. "But that wasn't the worse of it. When the news media got ahold of the story and found out we had a clue from the Surprise Package Pat and we had guessed wrong they started to tear into us and… Hego threw me to the wolves. He never came out and said it was my fault but he let the media spread rumors that it was I that thought the attack was going to be at the doll factory and that my brothers had rushed to that location only to retrieve me. They let Go City think I was the failure that caused those kids deaths."

Ron wrapped a crying Shego in his arms. "I'm sorry your brother was such an asshole he allowed you to be blamed for something he had gotten wrong. And the next time I see him I'm going to punch him in the nose."

Shego gave a slight sad laugh. "Ron his powers you wouldn't even scratch him."

"You forget I have complete access to my Mystical Monkey Powers now. Let's see which is stronger, his glow powers or my Monkey mojo."

Shego slapped Ron softly on the chest. "No I don't want you fighting with my brothers. Anyway, that is why I left. My brothers didn't support me or listen to me but dismissed me because I was the girl in the family."

Ron rolled his eyes. Even with Hego's strength and the others' powers they were no match for Shego's plasma powers and yet they thought she was too weak because she was a woman and she was dumb? What idiots. Shego was by far one of the most intelligent people Ron knew and without a doubt one of the most powerful.

"And that is why I became a villain."

Ron frowned in confusion.

"The news media you see. I had saved dozens of people as a hero. I was their angel as long as I never made a mistake but one mistake, one that wasn't even really mine and they turned on me. They called me things like baby killer and blind bumbling Shego. Remember this Ron because it is a truth. A hero when everything works is everyone's idol but when they show they are after all just human, the public will turn on them. They secretly want to see the hero fail and laugh at them but a villain? A villain is never restricted. A hero has to do everything just right. They can't cut corners or not cross their T's or dot their I's but a villain can do whatever he feels like doing. After all that is the definition of a villain, one who cares nothing for what others think but does what feels good to them."

So Ron decided to show that he was a villain by spending the next couple of hours doing things to Shego that felt good just because he wanted to. Rufus didn't leave the room but the small naked mole rat made sure to keep his eyes firmly glued to the computer screen and ignored the sounds coming from behind him.

It was late in the evening when Ron walked out of the gazebo doors and took a seat on the steps. He had to start dinner for everyone soon but he wanted this moment to have a chat with the last unofficial members of his household. Reaching into his jacket, he pulled out two bottles of mineral water and said in a voice hardly louder than a whisper. "Heads up guys." He then chucked the bottles toward the shadows near the dock and the other one near the large outcropping of rocks. Not hearing the sounds of breaking glass let him know that the ninjas had caught the bottles like he knew they would. Ron then pulled out a remaining bottle of mineral water from his jacket and opening it, he sat down on the steps of the gazebo. Raising the bottle up he toasted his invisible companions and took a long drink.

"I have a moral question guys, and even though I know you won't answer me, I need to talk to someone about it." Ron stated without looking at either set of shadows. "Does the end justify the means? I know what Kim would say. She would say never. That no matter how much good it would do, one should never violate the rules or the laws and always follow what authorities tell you. And I know what Shego, Harley and Ivy would say to the question. They would say to Hell with rules and regulations for me to do whatever I want to. But what I want to know is which of them is right?"

Ron sat in silence. He didn't expect an answer from the ninjas watching him and his household but he just had to say it out loud to someone.

So it was with some surprise when he heard a faint Japanese accented voice softly come on the wind.

"Sensei teaches us that a man can be 'dead' right or 'living' wrong and either is perfectly fine with the universe. What matters is that the person remains true to himself or herself. Did they live the way their soul told them to live, or only as others wished them to be? It is better to be a true villain than a false hero."

Ron waited a moment but then realized that the voice had no more wisdom to impart.

And it didn't need to. The voice had said it all. It wasn't for Kim to decide what was right for Ron any more than it was for Ivy, Harley or Drakken to decide. Not even Sensei could make that choice for Ron. It was for him to make his own choices and soar or fail. For him to decide what was the course he wanted his life to go.

Ron stared up at the stars just starting to come visible in sky and then nodded his head. Right or wrong he had made his choice and now it was time to start living the results of it. Getting to his feet, he turned to go back into the gazebo but paused at the doorway.

"Nice talking to you guys and thanks for the advice. Anything you would like for breakfast tomorrow?"

All was quiet for a moment and the voice was heard again on the wind. "Some fish and rice would be most welcomed."

Ron nodded his head and went inside.

AAAA

In Middletown with Bonnie

AAAA

Bonnie idly walked in an area of town she would normally have never gone to. She still hadn't decided on a decent 'gift' for Shego but if she was going to search for her master, she needed money. Possibly more money than she could withdraw from her mother's account with her debit card before the woman got wise and sealed her off from the account. As she walked, Bonnie could hear the faint klink klink of the gems inside her purse. It might not have been wise to walk the less respectable streets of Middletown with some very large and heavy precious gems in her purse but she didn't dare risk leaving them behind for her nosey sisters to find

She had the minor gems from the heist that she didn't plan to give to Ron and his group in her skirt pocket so obviously the next step was the find a gate to change them into cash for her.

Bonnie frowned as she looked into the run down shops she was passing. _"That isn't right is it?"_ She thought to herself. _"It's not a gate…It's a fence! Yeah that's what they call guys who deal with stolen merchandise isn't it? A fence, strange name to call someone who buys and sells stolen goods but then again who am I to judge what someone in that profession should be called?"_

Bonnie came to a stop in front of a particularly seedy looking pawn shop, there really wasn't anything about it to suggest it was a purveyor of stolen goods any more than the other places she seen but Bonnie just had a hunch about it. She prepared to go in but then realized she had no idea how one went about selling stolen goods to a fence. Did you just walk up and say, "hey I just stole this stuff last night, what kind of price will you give me for it? Or was there some kind of elaborate series of gestures and code words one did? Bonnie had no idea. She supposed she could use some of the gangster slang she 

heard in movies but if she got it wrong, at the very least, she would look like an amateur and at the very worse make herself look like a fool.

Taking a deep breath Bonnie asked herself what would her master Ron do?

Nodding to herself Bonnie decided she would handle it just like she thought Ron would.

Walking in and hearing a little bell above her head announce her presence, Bonnie watched as a rat faced little man scurried out from the back to stand behind the counter. He had a bristly mustache that only reinforced the rat like look about him and once again Bonnie patted herself on the back for finding an obvious criminal type.

"What can I help you with?" The man in a surprising deep voice asked her.

"I recently acquired…" Bonnie paused as her mind went blank. Picturing Ron's face in her mind helped her. "Some jewelry left to me by my grandmother and I would like to see what I can get for it."

"Oh?" The rat face man said neutrally.

"Yeah but I only have the gemstones from the jewelry to sell."

"Unset stones? Isn't that a little unusual for dear old Grandma to have?" The man asked.

"Not really." Bonnie said, completely making it up as she went along. "You see Grandpa divorced Grandma and she was afraid the man would ask for her jewelry back. So she removed the real gems from the settings and replaced them with fakes so when the old coot fought her for the return of the jewelry, Grandma could keep the valuable parts."

The rat faced man gave a sharp bark of a laugh. "Clever. I think I would have liked your Grandma. Sounds like my kind of woman." The rat face man flashed a yellow teeth smile at Bonnie but then became serious once again. "Let's see the stones."

Bonnie reached into her skirt pocket, pulled out the several diamonds, three emeralds and the one amethyst, and laid them on the counter.

The owner of the pawn shop pulled out of a pocket a jeweler loupe and holding it to his eye, he examined the gems. Slowly he lowered the loupe to look at Bonnie. "You know…. These rocks looks suspiciously like some that were reported stolen last night from the museum."

"There was a robbery at the museum last night?" Bonnie asked in mock surprise. "Did they catch the persons involved?"

The rat faced man gave her a knowing look. "No. They got away with quite a haul I'm told."

Bonnie slowly shook her head. "Crime these days. You aren't safe anywhere. Now about my Grandma's rocks, er gems?"

The man idly toyed with a diamond lying on the pad on the counter. "Hot ice are hard to deal you know."

Bonnie had no idea what the man meant but glancing down at the diamond, she was struck by how it almost looked like a piece of ice lying there glittering under the garish lights of the store. "Surely that ice isn't all that hot. More like lukewarm?" she asked as if she knew what she was talking about.

"True…True… The big ice that turned up missing last night would be hotter to handle but these are warm enough. I'll give you 10 cents on the dollar."

Bonnie had no idea if that was good or bad but figured the man would try to cheat his own mother on principle's sake so she put on a snooty outraged look on her face. One she was well practiced with from her cheerleading days. "10 cents? I have a guy across town that can give me 30 cents." Bonnie having no idea whether it was a reasonable amount or an outrageous amount said.

"Then why aren't you across town?' The rat faced guy asked in a reasonable manner.

"My guy…" Bonnie's mind went blank once again and once again, she tried to summon the image of her master for inspiration. "Has a naked mole rat on his shoulder."

There was no way Bonnie could have known but the term 'has a naked mole rat on his shoulder' in underworld slang meant that undercover cops were watching the person in question. So in effect she led the man behind the counter to believe that she was a seasoned pro by knowing the term and that her normal fence was unavailable due to police monitoring.

"Wow, that's tough but it happens. I hope your guy shakes his mole rat soon." Rat faced told her. "But still I can't go 30. How about 25?"

Bonnie gave a mock sigh. "That'll have to do I guess."

The rat faced guy swept the gems off the counter into his hand and they were gone as if he was a stage magician. "Okay, so for the lot it will be 5 big ones."

Bonnie was completely lost but once again she had a sneaking suspicion the man would try to cheat her so she glared at him.

"Okay, okay. 6 big ones." The man ducked behind the counter for a second and when he came up he was holding a stack of hundred dollar bills and starting rapidly counting them out. That day Bonnie learned that 6 big ones meant six thousand dollars.

"Not that I could handle the big ice, but you have them with you as well, right?" The man asked in too casual a manner.

Bonnie snorted. She may be new to crime but that didn't mean she was a complete idiot. "Grandma had a lot more grandchildren than just me to give her gems out to."

The rat faced man who had been reaching for a button to buzz the back of his store where his goons were waiting stayed his hand. The cute woman in front of him just let him know that there had been other members in her gang that helped with the heist and the rest of the big stuff had already been given out to them as their cut so there was no reason to rough her up to see if she had the stolen big ticket items on her.

"Good ol' Granny comes up with any more 'loose' jewelry, look me up again." He said as he watched the young woman leave his store.

Bonnie was walking on cloud nine. Just last night she had her first successful heist and today she dealt with a real honest to god fence and even kept herself from being cheated by him, at least she hoped she had. She still had no real way of knowing if the amount of money she got was decent or she had been horribly cheated but Bonnie went with the feeling that she had done well.

Wanting to celebrate her successes Bonnie decided to go somewhere else she wouldn't normally be caught dead in, a local sleazy looking bar just a short ways up the street from the pawn shop. Bonnie wasn't much of a drinker but she just had to do something to celebrate her new criminal life and a bar seemed the logical choice.

Walking in Bonnie made her way to the bar aware that every man, and in some cases women's eyes in the place were following her. _"Let em look."_ Bonnie thought to herself. She belonged body and soul to her master so they would never get to touch her but they could look and dream if they wanted to.

Looking at the bartender behind the counter Bonnie suddenly realized she had no idea what to order for a drink. Again, she didn't want to look the fool for ordering something so mild they'd laughed at her but at the same time she didn't want to order anything so strong it left her gasping and coughing. And the thought that she was now carrying around a huge sum of cash as well as 'hot ice' in her purse left Bonnie suddenly wondering if this was a good idea or not. Still once Bonnie decided on a course of action, she wouldn't be deterred.

"What'll you have?" The man behind the bar asked her as he eyed her up and down.

"A beer." Bonnie replied. She once had heard the football team in high school saying you could never go wrong with beer so….

The man didn't seem shocked or amused but just nodded his head. "Any particular brand?"

Once again, Bonnie was thrown. She knew there were many varieties of beer but her mind went blank on names.

"Something American and cold." She replied in a calm voice.

The bartender smiled and nodded his head in approval and quickly placed a bottle in front of her. "That'll be two bucks."

Bonnie reached into her pocket and pulled out a hundred dollar bill.

"Whoa darling. Two things, one I ain't got the kind of money to make change for that and two; you shouldn't be flashing that kind of dough in this area."

"Oops. Sorry. I guess I should have expected that." Bonnie said.

A voice from behind her cause Bonnie's blood to turn to ice. "Yeah, you should have."

Bonnie took a quick gulp of her beer and turned slowly to look behind her. Sure enough, Kim Possible was standing there.

"I'm surprised to see you here Bonnie. I didn't think any place that didn't have valet parking would appeal to you." Kim said as she eyed her suspiciously.

"Hey, I still need two bucks for the beer." The bartender reminded Bonnie.

Bonnie started to open her purse but then suddenly remembered what was lying in plain view inside it and froze.

"I'll pay it for her. She's an…Old friend. Aren't you Bonnie?" Kim asked as she handed over the money to the bartender.

Bonnie could hardly swallow. "I never thought of us as friends." She finally managed to get out.

"Sure we were. Went to high school together and were cheerleaders together." Kim said. Kim couldn't make herself believe that the woman who had robbed the museum last night and Bonnie were one and the same even though Kim now knew the voice she had heard last night was Bonnie's.

"Whoa. If you two are like that, there's a bar down the street. We don't serve lesbians in here." The bartender decided to stick his nose in to their conversation.

Both Bonnie and Kim turned to shoot him an angry glare. "I am not a lesbian." Both women said at the same time.

"Jinx." Bonnie said weakly to Kim as she turned to face her again. "I would say you owe me a coke but it would seem you have already bought me a drink today."

"I missed you." Kim said suddenly surprising Bonnie.

"I find that really hard to believe. We were not friends in high school at all."

"Oh I didn't mean high school. I meant I missed you last night at the museum." Kim said in a low dangerous voice.

Kim knew as soon as Bonnie's eyes widened with that statement that she had indeed found her criminal. She almost couldn't believe it. First Ron appears to go over to the dark side and now Bonnie too?

Bonnie looked like a deer caught in headlights as she stared at Kim. That is right before she hurled what was left of her beer in Kim's face distracting her.

Bonnie's feet nearly had wings as she fled out of the bar and she tore up the street, a soaked and snarling Kim at her heels.

Kim couldn't decide what made her angrier at the moment. That Bonnie had been the one to hand her ass to her last night at the museum or that once again Will Du's anal retentive ways proved to be correct. It was he that ordered Kim to keep surveillance on this area of town in the hopes that the thief from last night would try to fence the stolen items. Kim had openly laughed at him and even Dr. Director pointed out that if it had been a Bebe robot that had stolen the stuff they would not fence it but take it back to Drakken.

"_And damn it to Hell, Du was right. I couldn't believe it when I saw Bonnie leaving that pawn shop and going into a dive of a bar. What the Hell would make Bonnie take up a life of crime? And more importantly, how did she get so good at it?" _Kim thought to herself as she chased after her.

Bonnie was once again wearing high heels but she might have had on track shoes for all the difference it was making this day. There was nothing like a snarling red head behind you to give your feet that extra boost in running. Ducking down an alley Bonnie spotted a fire escape ladder nine feet in the air ahead of her. Launching into a hand stand, Bonnie flipped forward and grasped the bottom most rung of the ladder. She was up it before it could even start to slide down from her weight.

"_Thank god for cheerleader practice and the fact I've been working out so diligently lately." _Bonnie thought to herself. Risking to pause a moment she glanced downward as Kim entered the alley.

Spying Bonnie half way up a fire escape ladder, Kim without pause sprang up and… Missed the edge of the ladder and fell short. Landing on her feet, she glared up at Bonnie.

Bonnie was just about to issue a gloat when she noticed Kim's hands shoot down to the belt she was wearing, a belt that was an exact copy of the one Bonnie had taken off of her just last night. "Oh damn!" Bonnie muttered as Kim pulled out a hairdryer grappling gun and fired. Not waiting any longer Bonnie pushed herself to get to the top of the building as she had never pushed herself before. She knew that if Kim reached her it was all over. Bonnie had been working out lately but she was no match for Kim and her 17 forms of kung fu.

Bonnie silently cursed herself for not bringing the utility belt of Kim's she had stolen the night before. It just didn't go with her fashion and Bonnie couldn't make herself wear it this morning. Although if Kim had spotted that, she would have known Bonnie was the criminal even faster than she had. The only thing Bonnie had kept with her was the tiny lipstick laser just because it was so small and handy an item.

Bonnie reaching the top of the building shot a hand into her pocket and found the lipstick laser, not even pausing to consider her actions she wiped it out and focused the beam on the end of the grappling hook near the edge. The laser of course cut through the rope almost instantly.

Bonnie was appalled at what she done and could only imagine Possible's broken body lying on the pavement below. Putting the lipstick laser back into her pocket she inched towards the building's edge to look. She had truly hated Possible when they were in high school, not just for being so perfect but 

also for taking Ron away from her but no one deserved to be dropped from such a height. As Bonnie neared the edge she spotted two hands suddenly appear on the bricks of the buildings edge and a moment later Kim's face cleared the edge. If Bonnie thought Kim looked mad before it was nothing compared to the hate glaring on her face now. With a final pull Kim flipped herself onto the building's roof to face Bonnie.

"Give it up Bonnie. I've brought in super criminals. You are hardly a challenge." Kim taunted Bonnie as she gave chase as Bonnie with a 'eep' turned tail and ran once again.

"And yet how many of them ever managed to knock you out not once but twice in one fight?" Bonnie risked a breath to yell back reminding Kim of the fight last night at the museum.

Hearing an almost inhuman growl of rage Bonnie glanced back and suddenly wished she had kept her mouth shut as Kim gave a burst of anger fueled speed and her fingers brushed the back of the blouse Bonnie was wearing.

Bonnie with a yelp that she worried was far from criminal enough, dodged to the side and Kim couldn't control her speed and over shot her. Turning to the side Bonnie began a frantic game of hide, seek and run with Kim amongst the water tanks, air conditioners, and air vents on the roof.

"You can run but you can't hide Bonnie, I know you too well. Sooner or later I'm going to catch you." Kim shouted after her.

Temporarily losing Kim behind just such a over sized air conditioner, Bonnie made a run towards the edge of the roof and made to leap the tiny alley that separated the two buildings and get to the other building but at the last moment Bonnie paused. Leaning outwards into the alley Bonnie spotted that there was a small window just a few feet below her. Hearing the crunching of the roof's surface, she knew Kim would appear in a matter of seconds. Gripping the edge of the roof Bonnie lowered herself down till her feet touched the edges of the window below her and taking a deep breath and praying to her Master Ron, she let go of the roof's edge. Bonnie repressed a scream as she started to slide down the face of the building and almost missed the window's recessed edge with her hands as she slid past it. With fear enhanced muscles Bonnie pushed and pulled against the edges of the window opening and pulled herself into it. Forcing herself not to look up to see if Kim had reached the roof's edge yet Bonnie stared at the window in front of her and thanked every God she had ever heard about and her master Ron that the window was broken, all that met her was the empty hole where a window should have been. Quickly pulling her legs up she slid herself into the open window with a cat like grace that her chosen criminal name sake implied.

Turning quickly Bonnie threw herself to the side of the open window and just leaning enough to see out of the corner of one eye she watched the edge of the opposite roof. Barely a heart beat later and she spied the shadow of Kim as the crime fighter sailed across the gap between buildings and continued her chase. Fortunately, Kim hadn't guessed what Bonnie had done and figured the fugitive had merely continued to run to the next building.

Finally, with shaky breaths, Bonnie looked at the room she found herself in and was relieved to find the room was obviously abandoned, the only signs of someone having been in there in a while was the graffiti sprayed on the walls, 'the end is coming' and 'the dark knight is seen'. In the state of excitement, exhaustion and with her heart pounding in her chest, she didn't think she would have been up to dealing with angry tenants wanting to know who the hell their invader was.

Taking a deep breath Bonnie knew that it was far from over. Kim wasn't dumb or new to chasing criminals. It wouldn't take Kim long to figure out that somehow she had lost her or that she had doubled back or something. So with one last heartfelt thank you to the image of her Master in her mind, Bonnie ran over to the door of the abandoned apartment and started racing her way to the ground floor of the building.

Reaching a side door at ground level that led back to the alley Bonnie cautiously exited the building, all the while trying to look in all directions at the same time. Bonnie was willing to admit to herself she was terrified and that she was more fearful than she had ever been in her entire life and she was…. More turned on than she could ever believe she could be. It was almost to the level that it had been when Ron had tied her up and threatened to whip her. Her body shook and not just from exhaustion and the after effects of too much adrenalin but from mini orgasmic shocks. No wonder her Master Ron had gone to the criminal side! This was exhilaration on the scale that Bonnie couldn't even have known had existed before. As far as Bonnie was concerned, there was only one thing that could have made it even more thrilling and that would have been if she knew Ron was waiting for her to spank her for taking so long to lose Kim.

Bonnie made her way to the edge of the alley and risked a glance around the edge of the building towards the main street. She pulled back almost immediately with a curse on her lips. Kim was standing on the sidewalk glancing left and right only yards away, obviously she was trying to decide which direction to search for Bonnie first. Bonnie had leapt out of the skillet but her ass still wasn't safe from the fire yet.

"_Kim says she will catch me because she knows me so well. Okay, what can I do so out of character for me that Kim will never in a million years think of it?"_ Bonnie thought furiously. Glancing down at the dirty alley at her feet Bonnie's eyes fell on a sewer manhole cover.

"_Oh God no not that! It's dirty down there and I've heard rats live in sewers and it is smelly and… It is the one place Possible will think you would rather die than go." _A small voice in Bonnie's mind reminded her. _"Because she is right? I mean even if she does catch me, I'm a first time criminal. What will they give me? Two or three years?" _Bonnie tried to argue with her own mind.

"_For a major jewelry heist?" _Bonnie's mental voice mocked her. _"And even if they did extend mercy to you, which coming from Possible is almost inconceivable, that would still be two or three years without Ron. Two or three years he grows to forget you ever existed. You think he would wait for you? He has other slaves; you are gone that long you might as well forget about even dreaming of him ever wanting to touch you again."_

Bonnie swallowed hard. "Well no one ever said a criminal's life was all glamour." She muttered to herself. Searching the alley Bonnie finally found a bit of broken metal pipe and using it, she managed to leverage up the manhole cover with a small amount of effort all the while thanking her foresight in taking up a vigorous workout schedule. Looking around to see if Kim only a few yards away on the main street had heard the groan, both from her from the effort and the old manhole cover from being moved when it hadn't been in years. Wanting to give a very girlish shaking of hands and whimpering at the smell coming from below, Bonnie lowered herself down till her high heeled clad feet could feel the ladder under her and slowly she lowered herself down. With a final deep breath of semi clean air Bonnie leveraged the cover back into place above her casting herself into the darkness of Middletown sewers.

Only moments later Kim entered the alley and looked around. Finally admitting that she had lost Bonnie somewhere, Kim pulled out her Kimmunicator, just like her belt replacement it arrived just that morning from Wade by express delivery to make up for the ones that bitch stole from her last night.

With a slight scowl at the thought of the dressing down she was going to receive yet again for not calling for immediate backup, Kim pressed the button not to signal Wade but put her in contact with Dr. Director.

Bonnie found the sewers were not quite as horrible as she had first imagined. The round tube like things weren't that filthy. There was a slow sluggish running stream in the center of the tube that Bonnie tried desperately not to think about what was in it but there were convenient ledges that if not overly wide, were still wide enough to keep her from having to walk in the sludge in the center. And there was emergency lighting in the sewers that cast enough glow it managed to keep Bonnie from freaking out. The sight of a few rats with beady eyes staring at her from the darkness of other connecting tubes kept Bonnie on edge but so far she ran into none of them on the main line.

Jogging to put us much distance between Kim and herself as she could, Bonnie began to count inside her head. Months spent on treadmills to get in shape had instilled in Bonnie the knack for figuring out distance covered pretty well. Bonnie didn't even pause in her jogging till she had covered in her estimation almost a mile and a half. Panting and gagging at the smells filling her mouth and nose Bonnie decided to risk going back to the surface.

Pushing on the manhole cover above her Bonnie ducked when she heard a loud roar and just for a split second, she fancied it was Kim and that the redhead had found her once again. Finally exerting all her strength Bonnie managed to force the manhole cover off, pulled herself to the surface she found in her blind run luck had somehow guided her to the Middletown airport.

"It's fate." Bonnie breathed. "It means it is time to leave this stink hole of a town." Bonnie said to herself. Taking a look and a whiff of her own clothing reminded Bonnie just how much of a stink hole it could be. Spying a woman about her size and shape at the entrance to the airport piling luggage on a carrier, Bonnie bid her time until both the woman and her boyfriend's attention were on paying off the cab driver and walking past Bonnie snagged a carry-on bag that was on top of the pile and breezed into the airport lobby. Making her way to the nearest women's bathroom, Bonnie opened the pilfered bag 

and found luck was still with her. It contained a change of the women's clothing. Quickly cleaning up as quickly as she could Bonnie then changed into the stolen clothing and looked at herself in the mirror, while the sundress was somewhat garish in Bonnie's opinion, she decided that thieves couldn't be choosy. It was a fresh change of clothing and didn't smell or look like it had been in the sewers.

Striding out from the bathroom Bonnie made her way to the nearest ticket counter with the stolen bag under her arm. Putting on a tearful look on her face Bonnie addressed the woman behind the counter.

"I just broke up with my boyfriend and I really need to get out of this town for a while. What flight is leaving soonest?"

The woman at the counter looked at her sympathetically and typed on her keyboard. "We have a flight out to New York in about two hours?"

Bonnie frowned. "Is there nothing sooner? My boyfriend can be kind of violent. I want to get out of here."

The woman behind the ticket counter clicked her keyboard again. "Wait! We have had a cancellation. A seat is open on the plane to Las Vegas. It departs in about ten minutes, will that do?"

"Coach or first class?" Bonnie asked.

"First class."

Bonnie smiled widely. "That would do nicely. Thank you."

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Author's note:

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Whoa. This was the chapter that just wouldn't end once I started typing it. Ron has made a decision and Bonnie is, unknowingly, winging her way to where Ron waits. Kim can't seem to get anything to go right without Ron in her life and Drakken has learned that Ron is NOT gay and outside of maybe Hugh Hefner maybe one of the luckiest men alive.

And for some reason these lyrics are now running through my mind.

I wanna go, oh-oh, to the late night double feature picture show.  
By RKO, oh-oh, at the late night double feature picture show.  
In the back row at the late night double feature picture show.

You get cool points if you recognize the song and where it comes from.


	17. Chapter 17

Partners in Crime

By Weirdbard

Chapter 17

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First off, congratulations to those that knew the song lyrics at the end of chapter 16 were from the Rocky Horror Picture Show's song Science Fiction Double Feature. I knew my readers would be up on pop culture.

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Bonnie tried hard to not fidget in her seat as the plane took off. It wasn't that this was the first time she had flown or had any fear of flying. No Bonnie was an experience flight passenger having gone to Europe several times for vacations, and indeed was even a member of the 'mile high club' with that one flight she had gone on with Senor Senior Jr. No Bonnie was fearful because she knew just because she was onboard a plane that didn't mean she had escaped from Kim Possible yet. The plane could always be called back to the airport to waiting police or knowing Kim she might somehow find a faster flight and beat Bonnie to Vegas and be waiting for her to disembark from the plane before snapping cuffs on her. No Bonnie knew that the only way she would feel 'safe' again was when she was thoroughly lost in the crowds of Las Vegas. Even if Kim were to trace her to Vegas then, there was a good chance Bonnie could remain hidden in plain sight.

Bonnie not usually the most sociable person at the best of times tried to take her mind off her worries by examining the people she shared the plane with. Considering it was a flight to Las Vegas most of her fellow travelers were in good moods and going to Vegas for strictly pleasure. Oh, there were a few men dressed in business suits that Bonnie pegged as going strictly for business sake, and by the frowns on their faces; she knew they weren't that happy about it either.

Finally turning her attention to the woman sitting next to her Bonnie almost smiled. The woman was elderly with silver hair and a kind face. The only thing that kept her from being your stereotypical grandmotherly type was the bright garish clothing she was wearing, the least of which was a T-shirt that said. "What happens in Vegas… Better as sure as hell happen to me."

The woman noticing Bonnie examining her, smiled brightly and reaching into her purse pulled out a small cardboard box and dumped its contents into her wrinkled hand. "Tell you your fortune while we fly?" She asked.

Bonnie's first instinct was to turn her nose up and reply she didn't believe in such things and ignore the old woman for the rest of the trip but she did need something to occupy her mind and in her heart she knew her master would be displeased at her being rude to someone elderly so Bonnie gave a thin smile of her own and replied. "Why not?"

The woman seemed surprised as if she had expected Bonnie to give her exactly the reaction Bonnie normally would have but then seemed thrilled.

Rapidly shuffling the cards which Bonnie could now see were tarot cards, she then held the deck out to Bonnie. "Cut the deck anywhere you want to." The woman instructed her.

Cutting the deck and handing it back Bonnie had to admit to a certain curiosity as the woman pulled the top card of the deck and handed it to Bonnie for her to see it.

It wasn't what she was familiar with when one said tarot cards. The image on the card was a man with bat wings on his back walking off the edge of a cliff but instead of falling was flying.

"My tarot deck is the vampire tarot." The old woman gave a soft shrug. "I liked the images of sex and violence in it better than the normal standard series of tarot cards." The old woman tapped the card Bonnie was holding. "The Fool. This card represents you."

Bonnie started to bristle but was calmed as the old woman gave a soft laugh. "The card does not mean you are a fool but someone starting on a journey to find themselves. You see that is what the Fool represents; someone who has realized that life isn't what they wanted and decides to set out on a new path to find themselves, headless to the danger the path might lead them to."

The woman pulled the next card on the deck.

"Seven of Pentacles: connection to a wealthy patron or someone of power.

The High Priestess: A woman in training or devotion, a time of learning and belonging.

The Hierophant: Protection, positive feelings, a willingness to forgive and forget.

The Lovers: Two becoming one." The old woman grinned at Bonnie. "I don't suppose I need to say what else the card The Lovers means do I?"

The woman flipped over the next card. "The Empress." Here she frowned.

"Another strong female or females stand between you and the one you desire. She or they have great power and more importantly, she or they have fully the heart of the one you desire. I'm sorry."

Bonnie kept from wincing. After all, she knew Ron had more than one woman at his beck and call. It would have been naïve for her to think he would drop them all for her. Idly Bonnie wondered which one of her Master's group would stand between her and Ron becoming complete soul mates?

The woman taking Bonnie's silence as depression on hearing that she would never be one with the one she desired quickly pulled another card. "The World." Here to the woman frowned. The cards seemed to be contradicting each other. Bonnie glanced at her. "What does it mean?"

"Victory. A happy union with the one you desire with much luck and travel involved." The woman glanced at the Empress card lying on Bonnie's leg where she had placed the other cards. Finally, she shrugged. She couldn't understand how a woman could stand between the one sitting next to her and her desired one but still lead to a happy union but who was she to question the cards' wisdom.

Bonnie raised an eyebrow at the woman's momentary silence. "Is that all?" She finally asked.

"Um, no. Two more cards are to be drawn. To show you the fate of you and the ones that are or will be closest to you." The woman pulled a card from the top and handed it to Bonnie. A frightful looking being with a horns and pentagram on its head stared out of the card at Bonnie. Chained to the creature 

were two smaller figures, a male vampire and a female. Behind the group, fading into the background of the card was a large group of other chained figures. Most of them appeared to Bonnie to be female.

"The Devil card. A strong fearful appearing adversary will enter you and your closest ones lives."

Both Bonnie and the old woman glanced at the deck of cards in the old woman's hands. "I'm not sure I want to know what comes next." Bonnie whispered. She still wasn't ready to believe in fortune telling but that devil card sent a chill down her back and in her mind; the devil became female with red hair and smelling slightly of beer that had been tossed on her.

The old woman gave a slight laugh. "This is just for amusement. Just because the cards seem to imply something doesn't mean it will come true." The old woman felt like she was lying through her teeth. In all the years she had held the cards their predictions had never failed but she didn't want to worry the nice young woman next to her. "I'm sure the next card will put your mind at ease." She assured her. Taking a deep breath she hoped the young woman next to her hadn't noticed, the old woman flipped the top card over…

Bonnie could see what looked like a creepy looking castle that was crumbling with an ominous cloud hanging over it. Out of the cloud, a bolt of lightning was seen hitting the tower that was falling down.

"The Tower Struck by Lightning." The old woman practically whispered.

"I'm not thinking that is a happy card." Bonnie observed trying to make light even though she could feel a sinking sensation in the pit of her stomach.

"Disaster, ruin, the fall of everything built." The old woman muttered and glanced sadly at Bonnie.

"Um, well thanks for the reading." Bonnie replied slightly nervously and handed the cards on her knee back to the old woman. The woman without a word took the cards and silently returned them to the deck and turning she stared at the window of the plane and didn't say another word to Bonnie the entire trip. To Bonnie it was like the old woman had decided that Bonnie was a tragedy already happened and the old woman wanted nothing more to do with her.

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Kim with Global Justice

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"You determined that the thief involved with the robbery at the museum was none other than one Bonnie Rockwaller and… You lost her?" Will Du asked Kim as Dr. Director looked on.

"I can't explain it any more than you can. She ran like a woman possessed. I tried my best but I couldn't catch her. I don't know how she gave me the slip." Kim said staring down at the ground at her feet.

Dr. Director sighed. "Kim I think you might need to take a break and this time it is an order."

Kim glanced up sharply at her. "What you are saying is that you no longer think I have what it takes to get a job done. Is that it?"

Instead of the cold look, she was expecting she was met with a face of a tired woman. "No Kim, I think you have been pushing and blaming yourself too much for Ron's leaving and I think you need to take a break or you are going to self destruct."

Kim bristled and started to reply but instead she let her shoulders slump. "Maybe you are right. Since I've lost Ron, er I mean we've lost Ron, nothing seems to go right anymore."

Dr. Director studied the young woman in front of her. "When was the last time you slept?"

Kim shrugged. "I don't remember. I get a few naps here and there you know? I try to keep one ear open in case you or Wade beep me and just in case Ron comes back… I just don't know how long it has been since I've had a good night's sleep."

"Take off a few days and rest. I promise if we get any leads on Bonnie or Ron and his group we'll contact you."

Kim nodded her head and slowly walked away.

As soon as she was out of earshot, Du looked over to Dr. Director. "This is what happens when you work with amateurs instead of highly trained individuals like myself."

Dr. Director looked at Du hard for a moment. "You two are so alike I'm surprised you are not brother and sister." She finally said before turning and going back to her office to arrange a city wide search for Bonnie Rockwaller.

Kim walked a short distance away from Global Justice's main headquarters and then reaching into her pocket she pulled out her Kimmunicator and after a moment's hesitation, she reached in again and pulled out a card and stared at it for a moment, finally she shook her head and replaced the card. Using the Kimmunicator like a cell phone, she dialed a number but not one on the card but a number she knew by heart.

"Monique?" She asked as someone picked up the phone on the other end. "It's me Kim; can we meet somewhere and talk?"

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At Ron's house

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Shego watched Ron as he served dinner. As usual, the food looked delicious but Ron seemed to be heavily preoccupied by something, as he didn't do his usual famous chef's impersonations as he served the food but was just quiet. Even Rufus who was once again riding on his master's shoulder seemed overly thoughtful. It was unnerving to Shego to see Ron so serious and thoughtful looking.

After her talk with Ron earlier in the day and now this heavy cloud of decision that seemed to hang around the young man Shego feared that Ron had reevaluated his life and was now preparing to tell them he was going to turn himself in or something. Looking around the table Shego noticed that Ivy was eyeing Ron in curiosity as well; it was obvious that the redhead sensed that Ron had made a decision about something as well.

Harley and Drakken however seemed oblivious. They chatted merrily about nothing of consequences and commented on the quality of the food but Shego noticed that Harley kept glancing sidewise at Ron from the corner of her eye and realized the blond knew something was up too but was just good at hiding her observations. That left only Drakken as the only one to not realize something was about to change.

"_Well that's hardly surprising."_ Shego thought silently to herself. _"Dr. D. is usually oblivious to everything until the roof falls in on him."_

As they finished eating Ron stood up. "I would like to see you all in about ten minutes in the media room please." And so saying he walked away from the table without even starting to clear it, definitely unusual Ron behavior.

Shego shared a look with Harley and Ivy while Drakken just seemed confused. "Is it movie night or something? And who is going to do these dishes? I hope I'm not expected to do them? I'm a super genius and my time would be better spent thinking than getting dish panned hands."

"Dr. D?" Shego said almost distractedly.

"Yes?"

"Shut up. Like we would let you do the dishes, we don't want them busted into a million pieces."

"Shego. Words can hurt you know." Drakken stated.

As the group entered the media room, they noticed that Ron was sitting at the computer keyboard at a small desk near the big screen TV in the room. He seemed to be studying something intently on the screen as they came in and silently took seats on the large couch behind him. Ron spoke to them without turning from the computer.

"I've recently made a decision on what I'm going to do with my life and I was wondering…" Ron said finally turning in the chair till he was sitting to face them. "Would you all like to help me take over the world?"

Shego blinked a few times. That was most assuredly not what she thought Ron was going to say. Turning her head, she looked over to Harley, Ivy and Drakken. Harley looked intrigued while Ivy had a small smile on her face and Drakken? Drakken looked outraged.

"You cannot take over the world!" he declared angrily.

"Why can't he?" Harley asked.

"Because I am going to take over the world! There can be only one." Drakken declared leaping to his feet to pose dramatically.

Harley looked at him a moment and then burst into laughter.

Drakken looked down at her in annoyance. "What?"

"Sorry I was just remembering you last night as you carefully explained how Shego should put on her French maid outfit before wrestling Kim Possible in a vat of baby oil."

This caused Drakken to lose some of his dramatic mad scientist pose and he slumped a little. "Did I really say those things out loud?" He asked looking nervously at Shego.

"Yeah you did." Shego muttered.

"And you didn't kill me?" Drakken asked in a small voice.

"I cut you some slack cause you were near dead. A decision I am beginning to reconsider." Shego replied. "Now sit down and let's hear what Ron has to say."

Drakken did sit back down but still muttered to himself like a spoiled child. "I'm the one who is supposed to take over the world."

Ron's face hadn't changed the slightest at what had gone on but continued with his 'official serious face'. "Harley do you remember that commercial we saw today about those starving children and what I told you about them?"

Harley instantly sobered at the mention of all those pitiful looking children starving on camera while some announcer with a smooth voice tried to get people to send in money to help save them. "Yeah, I remember." She said quietly.

"Do you remember what they said caused the famine they were going through?"

Harley shrugged. "They said it was due to years' long drought."

Ron turned his attention to Drakken. "And Dr. D. do you remember that time you tried to take over Canada and rename it after yourself?"

"Which time?" Drakken said looking up. "I've tried more than once you know."

"The one with the weather device." Ron supplied.

That brought a smile to Drakken's face. "Oh yes, I would have succeeded too if it hadn't been for Kim Possible and…" He tapered off with a confused look on his face.

"Yeah. Kim and… me. Remember?" Ron shrugged as if it was no importance.

"Wait! Wait! Let me get this right." Harley said looking in confusion at Drakken. "You had a weather device?"

"Yes. I stole it…" Drakken paused as Shego cleared her throat. "I mean Shego stole it for me from the weather machine sales lot."

"They have weather machine sales lots and sell the things like used cars?" Harley shouted in shock.

Ron nodded his head. "Doesn't make sense does it?" He asked her. "Machines that can cause torrential rains and… People dying of thirst and hunger?" Ron sat forward and placed a hand to his chin in a thoughtful pose. "I've done a lot of thinking this day. Both from my own point of view and then trying to see this world from your and Ivy's point of view as someone new to this dimension and I realized a whole lot of things."

"Like what?" Shego asked curiously.

"Like time share lairs known of by Global Justice but they don't put an end to them. Like Hench Co. and how a publicly held business sells its services to known criminals and doesn't even try to hide it and Global Justice and the rest of the world let it go on."

"Hench Co?" Ivy asked.

"Time share lairs? Drakken mentioned that earlier." Harley stated and looked over to Shego. "You said you would explain it to me later but you never did."

Shego glanced over at Harley. "Time share lairs are warehouse like places that villains and criminals rent with other criminals. They share the space but not usually at the same time. It's a place to go to when your own lair has been destroyed by Kim or GJ. Sort of a transition place to the next lair."

"And they know of these places?" Harley shouted, her voice going higher. "And you thought it was dumb how the cops never found our lairs when we keep using the same themes? And here they have time share lairs?!"

"They are even listed in the phone book as such." Ron added.

Harley's mouth dropped open.

"What is Hench Co?" Ivy asked again.

Ron turned and typed on the computer and the big screen in the media room flickered into life to show a website. "Hench Co. A business set up to supply the needs of the villain community." Ron typed again and the screen split to show another website. This one called Vbay. The Villains Ebay where items of villainy and criminality can be bought, sold, or traded.

"You have got to be kidding me." Ivy flatly stated.

Ron turning back to look at them sadly shook his head. "I'm not. Global Justice, normal police forces and governments know these places exist. Hell Hench Co gives tours of their manufacturing plants and holds annual criminal conventions! And no one stops them."

Ron turned and typed a bit more. The big screen TV's image split once again to make four windows. The top two showing Hench Co's and Vbay's and the bottom two showed videos of hungry children wandering around lost and military vehicles rumbling through villages. "My world has the technology to create weather machines, mood controlling chips and where a genius computer expert barely above the age of a boy can find anyone or any solution in a matter of moments and yet…" Ron's back shook slightly and Shego couldn't make up her mind if it was in anger or Ron was near breaking point and was going to start crying. "People are dying and forests are being bulldozed to make way for military bases. You asked me what I realized today Shego? I realized today that my world doesn't make any sense and everyone knows it but no one is willing to try and make it make sense."

Ron turned suddenly in his chair to face them again. "Ivy, can you make a fast growing plant that is high in food value and hardly needs any cultivation or any elaborate preparation to eat and so tasty that people will eat them without concern?"

Ivy thought for a moment. "Sure, piece of cake. I would cross a food plant's D.N.A. with bamboo, which is one of the fastest growing plants on this planet and maybe add a bit of catcus's D.N.A. to help with 

harsh conditions and some fruit D.N.A. so it'll be sweet and tasty. It would take me only a few days to perfect it. Why?"

Harley's eyes tracked to the big screen to the window with the starving children. "You are going to feed those kids, right?"

Ron nodded his head.

Shego shook her head. "They won't thank you for it Ron. The government will declare you a public enemy and demand you be brought in for interfering with their politics. Heck even the starving people will probably condemn you for making them grateful to you for saving their lives. At the very least they'll be suspicious of your motives!"

For the first time since before dinner, they spotted a smile cross Ron's face. "Didn't you tell me that was a villain's prerogative? That they don't have to have someone's permission to do something, that they can do it just because they want to and that they are unbound by anyone's restrictions or blessings?"

Shego had to tilt her head in agreement. That was indeed exactly what she had told him.

"This is what I want to do with my life and my power. To help those that others ignore, to feed those that others would allow to starve just because they judge they are not worthy enough of helping. I don't want their love, I don't care if I have their obedience and if they fight me, then so be it, at least they'll be alive to curse my name and one thing is for sure." Ron paused as he realized he was now standing and his voice had risen in his passion and was getting dangerously close to a villain's rant. "They'll remember and get my name right at least." He finished as he sat back down in the chair.

Shego seemed to consider for a moment. "So where do we start?"

Ron smiled at her. "First thing is, do you all want to help me with this goal?" Ron could tell by Shego's expression she was willing to give it a try. Harley looked excited by the concept while Drakken was actively sulking about Ron thinking he could take over the world where he himself had failed so many times before and Ivy was … frowning.

"Why should I worry about feeding ungrateful humans who take nature for granted?" She asked.

"Because I am not just going to stop with feeding them." Ron said to her. "Think about it Ivy, a world where we rule and make the decisions. A world where we make deserts bloom and people are taught to revere mother earth and treat her the way they should. We can take this planet back to an Eden where technology and nature need not be either or but exist in perfect harmony together. Like a double sized Naco and enchilada platter."

Ivy eyed him skeptically. "And you think that just we five can do this?"

"Isn't it about time someone tried at least? Isn't that why you told me you took up crime was to wake people up and make them value nature?"

Ivy slowly smiled. "We'll probably fail."

Ron nodded his head. "It's a possibility."

"Every government on this planet will probably declare us enemies and try to hunt us down."

Ron again nodded his head. "Probably."

"And it'll probably be the most fun we've had ever." Harley added.

Ivy after a moment nodded her head. "I'm in."

"So I expect you'll want me and Shego to steal a weather machine?" Drakken finally stopped sulking long enough to ask.

"No." Ron replied.

Shego looked at him in surprise.

"We'll buy one of them just like all their other customers."

"Why buy when we can just take?" Drakken asked with a sneer.

"Because that is how you always got stopped so early in your plans Dr. D." Ron stated. "If you had walked in and legally purchased that weather control device back during your take over Canada scheme, Kim and I wouldn't have been called in as soon as we were. You could have slipped out to an ocean, sucked up all the water you needed and purified it in secret and then moved over Canada and started your scheme. By the time anyone would have thought to contact Global Justice or Kim you would have been over half way towards your goal but by stealing the device you brought us in too soon and we were able to get organized enough to stop you."

Drakken blinked in surprise and looked over at Shego. She too seemed a bit surprised to hear that it could have been that easy.

"Every scheme I've had usually started with a theft…" Drakken said to himself.

"That brought in Kim before we were ready for her." Shego finished.

"So where do we get the money to legally purchase a weather machine?' Harley asked Ron.

"Well, that will take a theft and a big one at that." Ron admitted. Looking to Drakken, Ron smiled. "How would you like to get some of your money back from that casino that ripped you off Dr. D.?"

"We're going to rob a casino?" Harley asked.

"It was your idea in the first place Harley. Remember, you were the one that suggested we case a few of the casinos to rob before I learned of my skill with the dice?"

"But you were the one to point out that by committing a crime so close to where we live might tip off Global Justice and Kim where we are at." Shego pointed out.

"Who said it had to only be here in Vegas? I was thinking we will hit two or three of the big casinos here and immediately fly out to Atlantic City, Monaco and every gambling place between them and hit their big casinos. By hitting casinos in different locations we can keep Global Justice thinking this is a series of crimes and not a hint on where we are at. We then take the money and legally purchase a weather machine, by the time Global Justice…." Here Ron actually sneered. "Knows what we plan to do, those starving villages will be blossoming into gardens with Ivy's plants and we'll have moved on to the next project."

"What next project?" Drakken asked.

"Well if I just fed the hungry that wouldn't be enough to declare me a villain would it. So I was thinking of destroying a few military bases and raising an army."

"I might be able to help with that." Drakken said. "It would be close to what I was planning anyway when I sent Shego to steal that Trans…thingy."

"Yeah what was the plan on that anyway?" Shego asked.

"Stage one was to be the theft of the trans..thing and then I was going to steal a valuable metal alloy and using it I was going to build a new army of indestructible Bebe robots and send them to another dimension to conqueror it." Drakken said proudly.

"Trying to avoid Kim Possible were you?" Harley said with a barely disguised grin.

"Um, well… It is not like I fear her or anything like that. I just thought a new dimension could do with my genius is all."

"Bebe robots?" Shego asked as if Drakken had lost his mind. "You've tried those things twice and each time you lost control of them. What makes you think you could control them this time?"

"I've hit on the perfect manner of programming this time. It will work!"

Ron looked slightly doubtful but he didn't want to rain on Drakken's parade too much, the man's ego was fragile enough. "We'll keep the Bebe idea on the back burner for now Dr. D. Right now we need to make plans on the casino thefts to fund our projects."

"We'll need flying transport. Something fast and mobile like those hovercrafts that Drakken and I used to use." Shego glanced over at Drakken.

"I suppose some of the less damaged hidden lairs we had might have a few of them not destroyed. If I recall correctly didn't we have a secret lair somewhere in the desert near here at one time?" Drakken asked Shego.

Shego looked surprised but then thoughtful. "Yeah I think you are right. We built one here but then someone was cheap and wouldn't spend the extra money to put in a central heat and air into it and we nearly died from roasting during the day and freezing at night so we abandoned it."

"It wasn't me being cheap. Central air and heat for an underground lair would have cost a fortune." Drakken groused.

"Well did you leave any of those hover craft things there?" Harley asked.

Drakken's eyes widened, as did Shego's. "We left the biggest one we had." Drakken said.

"Yeah it was so huge we were going to wait till a good time came up to sneak it out and then we kind of moved on to other plans and forgot about it."

Ivy raised an eyebrow. "Well isn't that convenient. We have need of one and you know where one is that we can reach to retrieve."

"Well it may not still work." Drakken cautioned. "I mean that base was one of the first I created not long after hiring Shego for the first time. It maybe flyable or it may have been reduced to scrap by the sand and dust by now. I can only go and see if it is salvageable and if not I can always drop by my cousin Ed's and have him come with me to repair it or build me a new one." Drakken mused.

"Um, maybe not a good idea to get Motor Ed involved." Shego quickly stated thinking the motor head would probably still be annoyed that Shego had stolen a vehicle from him or caused damage to his precious mullet. "He would want in on the action and we don't want to share world domination now do we?"

Drakken nodded his head. "Yes, the last thing we want to do is share the world." He said with a slight evil smile.

AAAA

Kim and Monique

AAAA

Sitting at the food court at the mall where Monique worked, Kim took a long sip of her drink to keep from having to talk to Monique. Sure, she had been the one to call Monique and ask her to meet with her to talk but now Kim was having second thoughts.

Monique for her part just watched Kim and her obvious delaying tactics. "So…" She finally said to break the silence. "Have you had any luck finding Ron yet?"

Kim almost choked on her drink. "How did you…."

Monique rolled her eyes. "Come on girlfriend, it has been on every TV channel for months. Ron is a wanted criminal; it is only natural that you would be looking for him. Not that I know anything on why Ron is being called a wanted criminal since one of my best friends hasn't seen fit to call me in almost a year and every time I try I get a 'not now Monique'!"

Kim stared at the table top in front of her guiltily. "Things have been kind of confused and rushed for a while." She muttered.

"TMSIDK." Monique said.

This was enough to cause Kim to look up at her in question.

"Tell Me Something I Don't Know." Monique translated for her. "You and Ron were so tight together. You two moved in and everyone thought that it was going to be the 'fairy tale ending' you always hear so much about. And then I hear you dumped Ron and forced him to leave the house you both got together."

Kim went back to staring at the table top again.

"Talk to me girl. What happened?"

Kim gave a sad shrug. "It was just… It might have been too soon? I mean I was the only woman Ron had ever kissed and maybe that I was just settling for him because I felt sorry no other woman wanted him?"

Monique rolled her eyes. "Oh come on Kim, I know for a fact that Ron had another woman besides you…"

Kim glanced up sharply and surprised even herself when she growled. "What?"

Monique looked like a person who had just stepped on a tiger's dinner and was soon going to be replacing it. "Oh. He didn't tell you?"

"You?" Kim said as her hands started to tighten into fists.

"Me?! No way girl. I mean the boy was cute and fine but I would never do that to you. No I was talking about Bonnie."

Kim's face went white. "Ron cheated on me with Bonnie?"

Monique looked at her in surprise. "You really didn't know? It was gossip and rumor all over the high school. And no technically, he didn't cheat on you. Remember when you broke up with Ron and went out with Brick to get even with Bonnie, well the rumors are that Bonnie snuck over and 'visited' with Ron during that time."

Kim started shaking her head, she had heard the rumors back then of course but she had shrugged them off at the time because she knew Ron too well to believe he would have anything to do with Bonnie and Bonnie considered Ron such a loser to come near him. "No, I don't believe that. Ron would never cheat on me, even if we had temporarily broken up. He knew sooner or later I would let him come back to me and Bonnie wouldn't have touched Ron with a nine foot pole. He was so beneath her."

Monique blinked at her a few times. "Okay, first. Wasn't you that broke up with Ron? If so, why would he have to let you let him come back? You should have been the one to apologize and ask to come back to him and two, what do you mean that Ron was beneath her? Ron is a loyal, caring and funny guy. Bonnie could have done a lot worse than Ron but not a whole lot better." Monique realized she had allowed her voice to rise slightly and consciously tried to cool down.

Kim eyed Monique. "Sounds like you might have had a thing for Ron too?"

Monique thought for a moment and then shrugged. "As I said, Ron was cute and fine. If I hadn't been friends with you or just met Ron, I might have given him a try. I mean how many other guys can you say go on missions that obviously scared him senseless but he did them anyway just to be next to the woman he was so crushing on? To risk death or severe injury just to be close to someone and watch her back, now that is romance with a capital R girlfriend."

Kim felt even more crushing depression and guilt come over her at Monique's words.

"So, are you going to tell me what happened?" Monique asked.

"Ron got kidnapped by some female criminals that showed up during a Shego and Drakken robbery. One of the new criminals uses a chemical lipstick that makes men do what she tells them to do. Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn."

Monique nodded her head. She had seen police photos of the two women on the news along with Ron's pictures.

"Well I believed and still do that Ivy is using those chemicals to keep Ron under her power but global Justice isn't so sure."

"They think Ron might have gone back to his…" Monique faded off but Kim knew she was referring to Zorpox. Being Kim's best friend, Kim had told her all about Ron's past transformation into the evil genius."

"More like that is what they are worried about anyway." Kim replied.

Monique nodded her head. "Okay that explains the recent stuff. Now what about what happened with you and Ron that you kicked him out of the house?"

Kim couldn't look Monique in the eye and looked everywhere but at her.

"Ron and me just weren't….meshing together." Kim finally settled for saying.

"GIRL, you and Ron were made for each other! Everyone who ever met you two knows this."

"Well, they are wrong. I mean I like to get up early and Ron would sleep in all day if he could. I am neat and Ron is a bit of a slob. I'm always right and Ron was always wrong…"

Monique shook her head. "If I didn't know you better Kim I would say you are trying to say that Ron was not good enough for you and I know you aren't that stupid. Again what other guy could you find that would be ready to throw himself into a chipper/shredder rather than see you so much as get a scratch?"

Tears started to come into Kim's eyes. "Oh Monique, I think I may have made the worst mistake of my life. What if I never get Ron back again?"

"Calm down baby girl. Ron and you will get back together someday. I just know it."

"I hope so Monique because nothing seems to make much sense any more since he's been gone."

Monique patted her hand as she rose from her chair. "I have to get back to work now Kim but promise me you will call me soon? No more of this letting months go by without giving your friends a ring?"

Kim nodded her head. "I'll call, I promise."

A few tables away an Asian woman with coal black hair but in a different style than she normally wore was sitting. The woman was wearing a floral print blouse and black slacks. While she may have felt more comfortable in her normal black ninja garb that would have stood out in the mall like a sore thumb and the first rule of ninja was to blend in with your surroundings. She was close enough to the table Monique and Kim had used to hear everything that had been said but far enough away that Kim didn't notice her among the background of other people.

"_So now that you have thrown away the rice, do you feel the hunger Kim-san?"_ Yori thought to herself as she watched Kim weep a few more tears before getting up and leaving the table she had been sitting at.

"_I would never have been as foolish as to cast Ron-san's love back in his face. You truly do not deserve him."_

Kim wandered through the mall with unseeing eyes. She had hoped talking with Monique would make her feel better or at the very least help her see where things had gone wrong with Ron but it had done neither. And now Monique had told her there was an old rumor that Ron and Bonnie had gotten together in the past? Kim knew she had to keep Global Justice from learning of that rumor or they might somehow connect Bonnie's new crime career with Ron adding even more charges against him.

Kim paused in front of a mirrored column in the mall and looked at herself. She was a mess. She had bags under her eyes and looked like she had gone a few rounds with Shego. "My life sucks. This is so not supposed to happen to someone like me." Kim said out loud. Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out her Kimmunicator and the card once again and looked hard at the card for a moment. Finally, she breathed a sigh and quickly dialing the number on the card into the Kimmunicator she used it once again as a cell phone.

"Doctor Philstein? Yeah this is Kim Possible. I was wondering if you had some time to, um, just talk? You can? Thank you Doctor. I'll be over as quickly as I can."

AAAA

Back at Ron's

AAAA

As the light faded from evening to officially night time, Ron with Rufus on his shoulder, Shego, Drakken, Harley and Ivy stood outside the gazebo entrance to the underground house.

"I'll go with Dr. D. to see if the hover craft at that lair is still useable. If it is, we can fly it back tonight and hide it in the lake till we are ready to start our attacks at the casinos." Shego said.

"I'm going too." Harley suddenly declared.

"Why?" Shego said folding her arms across her chest.

"Because if you take our car out to find this lair and then find the hover thingy is working. Who is going to fly it back? Can Drakken do it?"

Shego frowned. "Drakken can't fly one of those things worth crap. He'll crash it."

"So Drakken would have to drive our baby back while you fly the hover craft?"

Shego thought about it for a moment. "Okay you got a point. I'll fly the hover craft with Drakken with me and you can drive the car back."

"I resent the fact that you ladies seem to think that piloting a vehicle is beyond my skills." Drakken said in a huff.

"Have you ever flown or driven anything without it crashing?" Shego asked with an eyebrow raised.

Drakken just folded his arms and grumbled to himself about how you crash one car into a donut shop and neither the police or your sidekicks let you ever forget it.

Ivy ignored the antics of the others and tried to spot the two ninjas she knew was in the area but she had to admit they were good. She could see nothing amiss. She knew she could always inquire from the plants if they knew where they were but she didn't want the ninjas to know of her skills yet and as long as Ron didn't seem to consider them a threat, she was willing to leave them be until they proved otherwise, however, a few strangler vines mixed in with the grass could be a smart precaution. She would make sure the next time she came up to the surface she would spread some of them.

Walking to the boat, they all crossed the manmade lake and reached where the carport were the car was parked. Ivy in the beginning had all been for taking the limo away from the realtor and just brainwashing the driver into being theirs but Ron wouldn't stand for it, so they had taken some of Ron's winnings from the casinos and purchased a dark sedan. To appease Ivy it was hybrid car that even though it wasn't perfect, it had far less impact on the environment than a normal car would have.

Harley had promptly wanted to paint it and even though Ivy had tried to subtly warn Shego and Ron against it, they had let Harley do her thing. Ivy suppressed a smile at the memory of the look on Shego's face when she had walked out the first time after Harley had finished 'decorating' the car to find it had been painted in garish shades of orange, green, yellow and blue.

The car truly looked like it had escaped from a circus and at any moment the clowns would arrive to take it back.

As Harley had beamed on in pride, Shego had said not a word but simply fired up her plasma powers and bathed the car in fire flash burning the paint off of it in a heartbeat. The next time Harley tried to paint the car it was with Shego standing behind her and watching everything like a hawk. The result? A car painted tastefully in two tones of black and dark green. The bottom half being the black while the top of the car was in a shade of dark green so dark it almost looked like black but glittered with green flakes.

Shego having gotten her way with her color scheme allowed Harley to put on the bumper a bright yellow smiley face that looked somewhat maniacally deranged with its overly cheerful smile.

"I'll drive to the lair." Shego stated.

"Shotgun!" Harley squealed as she raced to get in on the front passenger side.

"No fair! I was going to call shotgun!" Drakken yelled as he tried to beat the blond around to the car door. Unfortunately, it was no contest as Harley merely flipped over the hood of the car to land on her feet and reaches the door first.

Shego took a deep sigh. "You sure you two don't want to come with us?" She asked Ron and Ivy.

Ivy shook her head. "If Ron is serious about this feeding people idea of his I have to do the necessary breeding and genetic manipulations. I'll be working in my greenhouse up to the point where we launch our attack on the casinos to be ready."

"And I want to do some more planning. I want this to go over like clockwork." Ron stated.

Shego nodded her head but allowed herself one suspicious sideways look at Ron and Ivy. They would be alone in the underground house all by themselves. It was silly of her to be suspicious. Hell Ivy and Ron could make out any time they wanted to. Shego was confident enough in Ron's feelings for her she knew he wouldn't run off with the redhead without her but still…

As if sensing Shego's thoughts Ron took her into his arms. "When you get back I promise we'll spend a day just relaxing before we commit the crimes." Ron whispered to her.

"You think it is going to take a whole day to relax me?" Shego whispered back almost playfully.

"Being in a confined space with Harley and Drakken for 8 hours drive or longer and then flying back with Drakken for another 4 or 5 hours?" Ron asked in a normal voice.

Shego frowned. "Better plan on taking 2 days to relax me." She said also in a normal voice.

As Shego got into the car, Ron leaned in through the window to kiss her one last time. "Now don't kill them and bury their bodies somewhere in the desert, okay?" He said with a smile.

Harley laughed at him but then frowned and looked at the back seat where Drakken was sitting with his arms folded. "He's kidding, right?"

Drakken huffed. "Of course he is kidding…"

Harley relaxed.

"You should know by now that Shego wouldn't waste time burying us. She'll just leave our bodies for the vultures to pick clean." Drakken said with a touch of malice. He was really annoyed that the blond had nabbed the shotgun position instead of him.

Shego looked out at Ron. "Make it three days when I get back." She said as she started the car and drove off into the night.

AAAA

Las Vegas Airport

AAAA

Bonnie held her breath the entire time it took for her to disembark from the plane and make her way out of the sprawling airport complex, every flash of red hair or every woman's voice raised to a shout caused her to jump and expect at any moment to be tackled to the ground and handcuffed.

Finally, she made it to the automated doors that led outside and she took a deep breath of the still oven hot air. The sun was just going down but still the heat caused Bonnie to start sweating as soon as she left the air conditioned entrance way.

She had made it to Vegas without the plane being turned around and there didn't appear to be anyone overly interested in her arrival but Bonnie wasn't going to celebrate her escape yet. She still wanted to be safely inside some anonymous casino before she was willing to let down her guard.

Taking a firm hold of the carry on bag she had stolen in Middletown she walked over to where cabs were waiting to take travelers off.

"Where to?" The cab driver asked after getting Bonnie fully ensconced in the back seat of his cab.

"Um, I'm not sure. I just want a nice comfortable casino/hotel to relax in. You have any suggestions?"

"I know the perfect place." The cabbie said as he wheeled the cab away from the curb into traffic. "It is called The Pot of Gold over the Rainbow Casino."

Bonnie gave a careless shrug. "Sounds good to me."

Settling back into the car seat cushions Bonnie finally allowed herself the full realization at what she had done. She was now an official on the run criminal.

The police were no doubt at this very minute interviewing her family. Bonnie had no doubts that her mother was probably playing the full grieving martyr of a mother. No doubt she would be mock wailing and crying and bemoaning the fate of her wayward daughter and where did she possibly go wrong in raising her? While at the same time no doubt her sisters would be telling anyone with a camera or microphone that they always knew that their sister was a bad seed and a loser and that she would end up on the wrong side of the law.

Normally thoughts of her sisters bad mouthing her would make Bonnie either sad or angry but at this moment she couldn't care less what those vapid airheads might say about her.

She was free. She had taken that final last irretrievable step. There was no going back now. She was totally on her own and free now to look for her Master. Bonnie had planned to commit more and more crimes until a time when Ron would look for her and that still looked like the best bet to find her Master but for right now Bonnie was going to check into a casino, relax, maybe gamble a bit and then she would make plans for her next big theft.

The motion of the cab as it slowly wound its way through the traffic was starting to relax Bonnie and even though she vowed to herself she wouldn't let her guard down till she was registered in a hotel, Bonnie's eyelids began to betray her as they slowly closed, her head bobbing up and down as she fought to stay awake. Finally, her chin came to rest on her chest and her breathing even out.

With a sudden jerk Bonnie's eyes flew open and she found that she was still in the back of the cab but now they seemed to be parked in a underground garage. As the door to her side opened swiftly, Bonnie tensed up expecting to see Kim Possible standing there. So it was with a gasp of joy when she saw her Master Ron Stoppable leaning into the car.

He looked exactly how Bonnie remembered him from the last time. He was wearing a skin tight black T-shirt that showed off his wonderful tight and fit abs and strong arms. A skin tight pair of black levis finished his clothing and that adorable mop of blond hair on his head was still as untamed as always.

Bonnie expected him to help her out of the cab but she had no complaints when Ron slid in next to her and shut the car door behind him.

"Hello my little Bon Bon." Ron's dark husky voice whispered to her. "I hear you have been looking for me? Did you miss me so much?"

Bonnie whose mouth was so dry she couldn't answer merely nodded her head eagerly.

Bonnie felt as Ron ran his hand up her arm till it reached her shoulder and pulled her forward slightly. "What's matter Bon Bon? Cat got your tongue? I hope not because I had plans for it." Ron said as he leaned forward and Bonnie could feel his lips brush hers lightly. Bonnie closed her eyes as she could feel Ron's hands as one cupped her breast through the thin fabric of that garish sundress she had stolen 

from that woman in Middletown while another hand rested on her leg and slowly started to creep up her thigh to her center.

A sudden jolt caused Bonnie's eyes to fly open, only to find she was in the backseat of the cab alone and it had pulled to a stop in front of the main entrance to a brightly lit casino.

Bonnie almost moaned in despair when she realized the Ron from seconds ago had only been a dream. Bonnie her eyes widening in shock realized the hand cupping her breast was one of her own and the other hand? Bonnie glanced down to find that yes indeed she had her legs shamelessly splayed wide and had pushed the edge of the sundress up with her other hand and it was now resting on her damp panties. A dusky musk scent perfumed the back of the cab and Bonnie her face flushing bright red realized that she had just had a wet dream in the back of a cab. Quickly rearranging her clothing Bonnie was almost prepared when the cab driver opened the car door to let her out.

Bonnie could only pray that the man hadn't seen what she had been doing while asleep via his rear view mirror.

The cab driver held out a hand to help her out but paused and Bonnie could see his nose twitch as the man took a whiff of the scent that was still present. The cab driver said nothing but he did smile as Bonnie accepted his hand to help her out.

Bonnie refused to look the man in the face as she pulled a hundred dollar bill out of her purse and handed it over.

"I'm sorry miss I can't change this. We're not allowed to carry that kind of money on the road with us."

"That's okay. I came to Vegas to be a big spender and I guess I'll start with you." Bonnie managed to say with an even voice. "Keep the change."

The cab driver blinked and his smile grew even larger. "You need to go anywhere else while in Vegas please remember my cab and call for me again."

Bonnie felt like her face was still on fire as she crossed into the casino lobby. The fire was replaced by ice cold fear when she spotted the woman behind the counter with bright red hair and green eyes. Bonnie's heart thundered in her chest before she realized the woman before her was not Kim Possible but just merely had red hair. Breathing in a sigh of relief Bonnie turned to look at the rest of the casino while she waited for the red head at the counter to help someone in line ahead of her. Bonnie swallowed nervously when she spotted another red head… and then another…and another. The place looked like it was staffed by nothing but Kim Possible lookalikes.

"I'm in Hell." Bonnie said out loud convinced that no other explanation would do. She was tempted to flee out of the door and find another casino, any other casino but the memory of giving a cab driver one hundred dollars to bring her here was still fresh in her mind. That and Bonnie was exhausted and eager to get some sleep and maybe back into her Master's arms, even if they only be in a dream.

Finally, the man ahead of her finished his transaction with the red head and it was Bonnie's turn.

"Can I help you?" The red head asked with a subservient smile that all people who deal with the public eventually cultivate.

Bonnie felt a slow genuine smile cross her face. "I want a room with a single bed but nothing you foster on the common people but a good one. Something with a view and somewhere I won't be disturbed unnecessarily." Bonnie with a bit of her old queen bee attitude poking through demanded. Maybe being in a place where you are waited on hand and foot by Kim clones wasn't Hell after all?


	18. Chapter 18

Partners in Crime

By Weirdbard

Chapter 18

A week had passed since Bonnie had given Kim the slip and escaped. A week during which Kim had seen Dr. Philstein three times, three times so why did she find herself so reluctant to enter his office each and every time?

Kim stood there in the hospital's hallway staring at the doorknob of Dr. Philstein's office as she tried to force herself to go in.

"Are you going to come in Miss Possible or just stand there all day?" A voice from inside the office called out.

With a brief jump at being found out, Kim quickly grasped the knob and turning it went in. The office was an off white affair with the requisite diploma hanging on the wall and to what had been Kim's surprise a couch and leather chair in a stereotypical shrink's configuration. The first visit Kim had point blank refused to lie on the couch, or for that matter to even sit on the thing. Once again, to her surprise the doctor hadn't made an issue of it but merely stretched out on the couch and let Kim have the chair next to it to sit.

If the conditions were conductive to making it appear to anyone looking in that Kim was the doctor and the doctor was the patient, his interrogating style left Kim in no doubts. The man was in charge of his office no matter where he chose to sit or lie. More than once Kim found herself confiding things that up to this point no one had known, well except for Ron that is.

At first, Kim had tried to maintain the illusion that she wasn't seeking his professional help but was there merely to give him information to help with his writing of his book. That had lasted for all of ten minutes on the first visit before the man had raised himself up on the couch to stare across at her and say succulently "bullshit. Now do you really want to get to the heart of the matter that is bothering you or do you wish to continue wasting both of our time?"

Kim had gotten up to storm out of the office but was stopped when Dr. Philstein said. "You know your family is very worried about you. That is why they set us up to meet but you had already figured that part out haven't you?"

Kim had sighed and returned to her chair. That had been the first day. This being the third she walked over to the couch and lay down on it without protest or complaint.

"We've talked a little about your family and your growing up but we've both ignored the elephant in the room long enough, so today I would like to address that elephant and get it back in the zoo where it belongs." Dr. Philstein started. Over the last couple of days Kim had gotten used to his weird sayings that at first made no sense but when you thought them over a bit made a lot of sense.

"You want me to talk about Ron?" Kim only half questioned.

The doctor nodded his head. "It does all seem to start and end with him doesn't it?"

Kim frowned. "Not really. I mean you make it sound like I don't have a life without Ron in it."

"Not necessarily." The doctor conceded. "Just that he has been in so much of your life and helped to shape and make you the person you are today…"

"I hardly think that is true." Kim interjected. "I mean Ron was there for most of it but he didn't guide or steer me towards anything! I made my own choices and decisions."

"Oh?" The doctor asked. "Was it your parents' suggestion or advice that led you into studying so many forms of martial arts?"

"Well…. No. I mean they were always supportive of my choices but Ron and I were watching some martial arts movies one day when we were little and he mentioned how cool women who knew how to fight like that was…"

"So you undertook something that was not only quite demanding physically but also mentally challenging just because a friend of yours said it was cool?"

"Well it is cool." Kim tried to defend herself. "And it wasn't just some friend! It was Ron."

The doctor nodded his head noncommittally. "Okay, what about cheerleading? Did Ron have any input on that decision?"

Kim bit her lip. "Well… Yeah, kind of. You see we knew this girl in elementary school. Her name was Bonnie." Here Kim's voice lowered to a growl. "Anyway when we all started high school Bonnie went out for cheerleading and was rubbing it in my face and Ron said if it was going to bother me so much why didn't I go out for cheerleader as well? I did and became the head cheerleader." Kim finished with a slight smirk. "So it was Bonnie that ended up having to listen to me."

The doctor made a note on a pad of paper in his lap. "So you don't like this Bonnie person much I take it?"

"She's not important. I thought you wanted to talk about Ron?"

The doctor nodded his head. "Okay, what about the crime fighting part of your life? Did Ron have any input on that?"

Kim looked up almost triumphantly. "No. That came about by a mistake. You see I wanted a part time job so I had a friend of mine put up a website but he made a small mistake so instead of saying I would baby sit or do odd jobs he worded it like I could do anything to help people. It was just our first call was for a man who was testing a security device and got trapped by it…"

"So why didn't you explain to the man that was not what you were advertising for and suggest he find someone else?"

"Well Ron said we were there and he knew I could do it…" Kim faded off as she realized if Ron hadn't been with her at that point she may have walked away from that rescue and her life might have gone down a whole different path. Kim sighed. "Okay, so maybe Ron helped to…. Influence where I took my life. I did the same for him!"

The doctor nodded his head. "Yes I imagine you have. You have both influenced and shaped each other's lives."

"But it is not like I couldn't have done the stuff I have if Ron hadn't been there!"

Once again, the doctor nodded his head. "But would you have?"

To that Kim had no answer.

"Over the course of two days along with talking about your family you have mentioned the many missions you have gone on. Have there been none that if Ron hadn't been with you, you couldn't have succeeded on your own or things might have gone very badly?"

Kim opened her mouth to say no of course not but flashes of her missions flew through her mind. The compliance chip that Drakken had put on her and Shego. Sure Ron had little to do with actually freeing her but if he hadn't brought and helped her brothers to find her, she would still be Drakken's little doll. And then there was the time Drakken had used some strange Amazon plant extract on her that made her every time she was embarrassed to fade away a little. Ron had not only went all the way to the Amazon on his own to get the cure, he never once called Kim on her leaving her room for a date when she had explicitly promised Ron she wouldn't go out. If it hadn't been for Ron…. Kim would be long gone many times over and Kim knew it.

Slow tears appeared in Kim's eyes and started to trail down her face.

The doctor sympathized with his young patient but he couldn't afford to comfort her, not yet at least. She had to realize the extent of what she had done to someone who always stood by her or she would never begin the process of healing. "Tell me of the times you let Ron know how much his support meant to you."

"I told him!" Kim defensively reacted. Unfortunately, her memory chose to throw up all the other times. Accidentally locking him in a janitor's closet so he missed a dance, lying to him during Halloween so she could go out to a party, refusing to believe him about Monty Fisk so he ended up facing him alone. Suddenly Kim had a realization. It was almost like there were two Rons in her life. The one at school and at home whom she cuddled with on a couch and watched movies with, the one she shared her dreams and life with and the one on the missions. The one she treated like a movable screen to distract her enemies so she could play the hero. The one that constantly was embarrassed, humiliated and hurt to protect her but she forgot about when cameras or newspaper reporters showed up to ask her how the mission went. So when did the easily ignored Ron of missions and the lifelong friend she loved dearly became one and the same?

"_The day you decided that everyone who kept telling you were perfect had to be right." _A tiny voice in Kim's mind supplied. _"Perfection doesn't require support. It can stand eternally on its own. Once you thought of ourselves as perfect there was no need for Ron anymore and to keep him around would only make people think you needed him. That he might even be your equal?"_

Dr. Philstein watched closely the silent woman sitting on the cough with tears streaming down her face. He knew this moment well. The moment of 'breakthrough' where a patient either has the insights that helps to lead them to change or the moment they decide to bury what they don't want to face about themselves forever. The doctor really hoped Kim had the personal courage to face herself and make the decision to change. Those that tried to bury inside themselves what they did not want to face could still be helped but they would never fully recover.

"I was right." Kim said in barely above a whisper. "I was perfect. Perfectly selfish and self absorbed. I was perfectly blind to my friend's trials and hardships." She gave a slightly broken laugh. "I'm Kim Possible. I can do anything. Included being a perfect ass and chase away the only person who knew me inside out and loved me anyway."

The doctor got up from his chair and sat down beside Kim on the couch. "The only one that has lost out completely is the one who fails to learn from their mistakes and gives up."

Kim sniffled. "That sounds like advice Ron would have given me. Maybe not as clear or concise as that but still something like he would have said." Kim wiped at the tears across her face for a moment. "Do you think I can get him back?" She finally asked.

The doctor shook his head. "I do not know. Things have changed between you two that much is obvious but I do know that someone does not simply walk away from a lifetime friendship. I understand you or your friends still have not found any trace of him yet?"

Kim nodded her head. "Nothing as yet but I know he's out there somewhere."

"Why don't you tell me about the day Ron disappeared?"

Kim's eyes grew wide. She could never admit to someone that she had forced Ron under a chemical control to watch as she pleasured herself all the while telling him he wasn't good enough to touch her! Kim was now horrified and ashamed to admit it to herself. There was no way anyone would ever find that information out. She would go to her grave with it.

"Um, I can't…" The sudden musical tone of her Kimmunicator sounded like a reprieve from Heaven to Kim as it sounded in the quiet room. She looked apologetically at the doctor. "I'm sorry but…."

"Yeah I know. You have to go when they call. I understand but don't think I've forgotten the question left hanging. Someday you are going to have to answer it." The doctor waved his hand. "But for now go."

Kim hit the reply button on the Kimmunicator to let Wade know she had heard the signal but then pressed and held the hold button. "I may not be able to make our next session with…" Kim gestured at the device in her hand.

"That's okay. We'll reschedule when you have some free time."

"You have been so good to me doctor and I really don't know why." Kim said to the doctor as she headed for the door.

"Your mother is a good friend and patient of mine." The doctor replied as he walked over to his desk and then grimaced at his faux pas.

Kim froze at the door and pulling up the Kimmunicator she took her finger over the hold button only long enough to tell Wade she would call him back in a moment. "My mother is a patient of yours?"

"I'm sorry Miss Possible I am not at liberty to talk about my patients." The doctor said almost as if in rote.

"Dammit that's my mother we are talking about! Why would she need a psychiatrist?"

The doctor stared at her with a steely gaze. "I said I don't talk about my patients with other patients."

"My mom would never need a shrink…" Kim's voice held a note of panic in her voice. "She has no problems that would require a…"

The doctor his face turning red in anger stopped her. "Would require a shrink? How about a boy she practically raised as another member of her family disappearing and not knowing where he is? A daughter that she thought was going to settle down with that same boy, running him off? Or how about the fact that your mother is human being that has a highly stressful job as a brain surgeon?"

"But mom has never lost a patient or anything to be stressful about on her job." Kim said conveniently deciding to ignore his first two suggestions.

The doctor shook his head. "I swear when they were handing out stubbornness to the mules you pushed into that line and got a double helping." The doctor leaned over his desk to stare directly into Kim's eyes. "NO ONE IS PERFECT Miss Possible and that includes you and your mother as well. She has lost patients over the years, sometimes it is unavoidable."

"But she never told me or dad about them." Kim said in a small voice.

"No. She didn't, instead of burdening her family with her problems she went to a friend who happens to be a shrink and shared it with him. Now I think you better go and talk to your friend on that cell phone like thing and find out what he has to tell you." The doctor said and sat down at his desk and started sorting through papers.

"But…"

"Good day Miss Possible we will discuss your case, and just your case when you again have free time to do so."

Kim without another word turned and walked out of his office.

"Go Wade." Kim said as soon as she reached the parking lot of the hospital.

"Agent Du thinks he may have found out where Bonnie went to." Wade said deciding to ignore the rude way Kim had placed him on hold earlier.

"I'll be in at Global Justice within ten minutes." Kim stated and then hit disconnect. She started to get into her car but suddenly stopped. Pulling out her Kimmunicator she called Wade back.

"Yeah?" Wade asked as soon as he saw Kim's face on his computer screen.

"I'm really sorry for putting you on hold a while ago and I'm even sorrier for just hanging up on you just now. I know I haven't said it in a very long time Wade but you rock! I don't know how I could have accomplished half of what I did if it hadn't been for you or…" Kim took a hard swallow. "Ron."

Wade still looked a little peeved but finally he nodded his head. "I remember early on Ron once told me that I had to just cut you some slack when your inherent Kimminess got too much in control, that sooner or later you always snapped out of it. It took a damn long time this time but I'm glad to see you finally managed to pull your head out."

Kim managed a weak smile but almost immediately, it dropped from the mention of Ron.

"We'll get him back Kim. We'll get him back."

Kim nodded her head. "I know Wade. I know. Bye Wade. Talk to you later." Kim waited this time till Wade nodded his head and signed off on his end before she closed the channel.

AAAA

Ron's house in the desert

AAAA

The hovercraft floated serenely on the surface of the manmade lake that surrounded the Stoppable underground home as Shego and Drakken had got it there at nightfall the day before. It had taken Harley another five hours to catch up in the car and arrive home and the woman had immediately went to her room to sleep but not Shego and Drakken. Drakken had pulled crates after crates of materials he had gathered up at the abandoned lair and hauled them to his room not letting anyone else see what he had managed to salvaged from the old lair.

As for Shego, she had the hood of the hover craft open and was stretched over the fender of it with her head deep inside the engine compartment. The hover craft was not any worse for its long lack of use and it had required hardly any effort at all to get the machine in the air. However, that didn't necessarily mean it was in perfect working order or Shego was going to rely on it without a thorough going over, hence the reason Shego was giving it a examination and tune up by the early morning light.

"I never knew you were good with machines." Shego heard Ron call out to her from the shore side.

Looking across the short distance to where he stood, Shego flashed him a grin. "Turns you on doesn't it to see a woman leaning over an engine compartment, oiling up a stiff crankshaft." She teased. Her grin fading as she noticed Ron was staring at her and she realized her butt must have been up in the air as she bent over the engine compartment and her labors on the crankshaft had probably had her butt wiggling in a highly suggestive way.

"Very much so." Ron replied honestly, licking his lips.

Shego turned her attention back to the engine but only long enough to tighten one last bolt and then she quickly straightened up and closing the lid of the engine compartment, she then leapt across the short distance to the bank to stand beside Ron. "Then we might need to do something about that." She stated as she pressed a button on a remote control causing the hover craft to seal up airtight and slowly sink under the waters of the lake keeping it from whatever prying eyes that might be looking for it. She then turned to Ron. "I would kiss you but I have grease on me."

"Like a little extra lubricant can keep me away from you." Ron replied and taking her in his arms, he kissed her deeply.

Out of the corner of her eye, Shego could see Drakken had come above ground and was flashing an irritated grimace at her and Ron before he turned and reentered the entrance to the underground home. Frankly, she couldn't care less if Drakken found her and Ron's flirting to be disgraceful or 

annoying. As far as she was concerned, Drakken was the intruder in Ron's home this time and not the other way around. Any more thought she would have given it was erased as Ron deepened his kiss and she felt his tongue start to wrestle hers for dominance.

Drakken grumbled but silently to himself as the elevator deposited him in the living room of the underground home and he made his way to the kitchen. Shego had been his sidekick for years and for her suddenly to ignore and abandon him for that buffoon sickened and disgusted him. Intellectually he knew there was never a chance for anything to develop between the green skinned villainess and himself but he thought Shego could do so much better than the ex-sidekick of Kim Possible and she was wasting her talents and assets on the fool. Talents that could be better served by helping him take over the world not that… Buffoon.

Storming into the kitchen Drakken snagged a glass out of the cupboard and opening the refrigerator he poured himself a glass of chocolate milk and crossing over to the table he flopped down. It was only then that he realized he wasn't in the large kitchen by himself but that Harley Quinn was present as well as she had entered the kitchen almost right behind him and was walking over to the same refrigerator he had just left. The blond had her hair back up in pigtails once again making her look far younger than she really was but that wasn't what caught Drakken's attention this morning. It was the fact the woman was nearly naked. She had on a pair of very small green satin panties and a light green camisole that barely covered her breasts and left her wonderfully tight abs exposed to view.

Drakken nearly choked on his coco moo when the young blond suddenly bent over to search the bottom of the refrigerator and he was left with a perfect view of her tight panty covered butt swaying back and forth as she searched the refrigerator.

Hearing coughing noises from behind her, Harley glance back over her shoulder without straightening up. "Oh hey Dr. D. Do you know where they hid the Mega Sugar Swirlies from me this time?" She said naming the overly sugared and disgustingly sweet cereal she was fond of. Ivy kept moving and hiding the cereal from Harley because she wanted her lover to eat healthier and hated the overly processed garbage that Harley loved. For a while now Harley had learned that Ivy hid the cereal in the fridge and had gone there first but now realized that Ivy must have learned that Harley knew of that hiding place and found a new place to hide the stuff, either that or had finally crossed the line and had thrown it away completely.

"Um, ah, that is…Um, no I don't know where to put it this time. Er, I mean I don't know where she put it this time!" Drakken managed to get out in a tight voice. He was desperately trying to look anywhere but at Harley but was failing miserably as he realized that the angle from where he was sitting he had a perfect view up Harley's camisole and could see the bottom swell of her beasts as they hung down from her chest as she searched the fridge.

"Hey Dr. D." Ron's voice called out as he and Shego entered the kitchen. "What would you like for breakfast?" Ron asked before his voice ground to a halt as he too noticed Harley standing so provocatively in front of the open refrigerator.

"Harley!" Shego's voice rang out.

"Yes?" Harley asked as she glanced momentarily at Shego before turning her attention back to digging in the refrigerator.

"You are letting all the cold air out of the fridge. Either get what you want out of there or shut the door!" Shego stated. "Oh, and for god's sake put some clothes on." Shego added almost as if an afterthought.

Harley stood up and shut the door to the fridge and then turning folded her arms under her breasts unconsciously pushing them up. "I can't be comfortable in my own home? I had a long ride back from that lair with no one for company but me and the radio and do you know what crummy music they have out here in the desert?" She asked pouting.

"There is a difference between being comfortable and just being scandalous. I mean how would you like it if I were to walk around naked all the time?" Shego said.

Shego glanced over to Ron expecting him to back her up but to her slight annoyance, it seemed like he was considering her statement and was failing to see her argument. Glancing back at Harley she saw the blond was practically leering at her. "Works for me." Harley said with a grin.

Shego frowning happened to glance over at Drakken and saw the man was nodding his head. Seeing he was spotted Drakken said the first thing to come to his mind. "I would have no problems with it."

Shego shook her head and walking over to the cupboard, she got a glass. "I'm surrounded by deviants." She muttered to herself as she brushed past Harley to open the fridge and get a pitcher of orange juice and filled her glass.

Ron started to chuckle but stopped as Ivy breezed into the room carrying a large tray. Ivy was dressed in her normal 'working clothes', that being her green costume with the dark green bodysuit followed by lighter green leggings and dark green boots and gloves. The original costume from her dimension having been lost a long time ago, Ron had fashioned and supplied her with several exact copies. "I've finished with my newest babies." Ivy stated happily and sat the tray on the table.

Ron, Shego and Harley circled the table to see what it was the genius plant villainess had wrought. There were three nearly perfectly round gourds sitting on the tray. Appearance wise they weren't that different from watermelons although instead of green they had bands of yellow and red alternating.

"What are they? They kind of look like beach balls." Harley asked.

"They are the food plants Ron asked me to create for him of course."

"Oh the ones to fatten up the starving kids?" Harley asked as she reached out and prodded one of the gourds with a fingertip causing it to rock back and forth gently.

Ivy frowned. "Hardly just to 'fatten' them up Harley. We could just drop candy bars to do that! My babies can grow almost anywhere and they provide 100 of the recommended daily needs of vitamins and minerals." Ivy said as she took a butcher knife and cut open one of the gourds. The center of the melon was solid with no signs of seeds like those that a watermelon would have had and the contents was a light cream color with a smell that hinted at peaches and cream.

Harley started to back away from the round objects as if they were suddenly alien pods. "You mean….?"

Ivy placed the knife on the table and swiftly crossed behind Harley and wrapped her arms around her waist she stopped the blonde's retreat. "Yes Harley, they are healthy and good for you."

Shego with a grin cut and picked up a piece of the fruit and started towards Harley.

"Ronnie! Save me from the healthy food!" Harley nearly squealed as Shego neared her mouth with the bit of fruit.

Ron couldn't help it. He started laughing at the blonde's reaction.

"Well then. You don't get any." Shego said with a smirk and popped the piece of melon into her own mouth. She had no fears about the plant being dangerous; she knew from the months of living with Ivy that if the woman said a plant was safe, then it was safe. Shego's eyebrow rose as she chewed on the bit of fruit. "Wow, this is really good. Strange but good."

"Strange?" Ron asked as he sliced a piece off of the inside of the melon and tasted it himself. "Oh I see what you mean. It tastes like…" Ron paused as he tried to find the words.

"Peaches and cream with blackberries but with also a hint of something…" Shego continued.

"Chocolate." Ron added in wonderment.

Shego nodded her head. "Yeah that's it all right. It tastes faintly of chocolate."

Harley stopped mock struggling in Ivy's arms and looked interested. "Really? I want to try some."

Ivy tightened her hold on her lover but this time to keep her from going towards the melon on the tray. "Oh no, you begged Ron to save you from my nasty healthy plants remember?" She whispered into Harley's ear.

"That was before I knew it tasted good." Harley muttered, only to have her eyes widen when she realized what she had said out loud.

"You don't think I could make a healthy plant that tasted good?" Ivy asked her sharply.

"That is not what I meant. I meant…" Harley faltered as she realized she didn't know how to get out of the hole she had dug herself.

Ivy gave her a quick squeeze around her waist to let her know she wasn't really mad at her.

Drakken decided he was tired of being left out of the melon tasting and reaching out he took the knife and cut himself a piece of the gourd and placed it into his mouth. "Oh my! This is fantastic." He muttered around a full mouth. "Can you imagine this made into a pie or cookies?"

"Ooh great idea Dr. D. I have to try making a pie with one of these melons." Ron agreed enthusiastically.

"I wanna try!" Harley whinned.

"Oh let her have a bite before I bite her." Ivy said.

Shego cut a piece and as Harley opened her mouth like a baby bird waiting to be fed, Shego pushed the piece inside her mouth. She frowned at Harley as Harley's lips closed around her finger and sucked on it for a moment before Shego could pull it free. Harley chewed on the piece of fruit for a moment and then sighed. "It is the best thing I've ever tasted." She finally had to admit.

"Oh I don't know." Ivy muttered and then licked Harley's ear before she started nibbling on it. "I think you taste better." Ivy breathed into Harley's ear as her hands started making slow circles on Harley's stomach and hips.

Harley's eyes grew wide and her breathing quickened. "Um Ivy?" She nearly moaned as Ivy continued to suck on her ear lobe.

" You've been gone for almost a week and I've been working non-stop on perfecting my babies. Gene splicing, nurturing them, growing them and hand cross pollinating them. I nearly had them perfect a day ago but I had to redo the leaves on them as they had thorns and Ron wanted a safe plant that children could harvest if need be so I went back to the drawing board and redesigned them almost from scratch till I came up with a plant that has leaves so soft they couldn't hurt a fly." Ivy nipped the edge of Harley's ear before pulling back and starting to nibble on Harley's neck. Harley started to sag, as her knees grew weak from what her lover was doing to her.

"And do you know how all that hard work and effort left me feeling?" Ivy asked.

Shego raised an eyebrow as she watched the two women. "My guess would be it made you horny as Hell." She stated matter of factly.

Ivy suddenly released one of her arms around Harley's waist and reaching out she caught Shego by surprise and grabbed her by the belt around her waist and dragged Shego to her. Before Shego could react, Ivy crushed her mouth against her lips, all the while making sure that Harley didn't make an escape from her by her keeping one arm around Harley's waist. After a few moments, Ivy then pulled back. "Damn straight it did." Ivy stated before savagely kissing Shego again.

"Ronnie." Harley's nearly trembling voice called out. "We need fun time. NOW!"

Ron looked at Drakken who was sitting at the table, his eyes nearly glazed over as he watched the three women practically having sex in front of him. "But I haven't even made breakfast yet…"

"You ate some of Ivy's melon. That's breakfast." Harley said. "Now I want you to eat my melons… And Shego's! So come on its fun time!"

"But it would be rude for us…" Ron started.

"NOW!" Harley practically growled.

"We have things we need to…"

"NOW!" Ivy stopped assaulting Shego's mouth long enough to growl.

"But…"

Shego pulled away from Ivy and growled at him herself. "NOW Ron!"

Ron sighed and then shrugged apologetically to Drakken. "Sorry dude. My ladies need me."

As they left the kitchen, Harley began to tug on Ron's belt trying to get his pants off.

Drakken continued to sit at the table for several long moments after the group had left and sounds of their giggling and frolicking faded. Finally, he slowly got up from the table and stared down at the melons sitting on the tray in front of him. Raising a fist, he slammed it down on one of the melons causing it to splatter all over the kitchen as he crushed it.

"You think you are all that…" Drakken paused for a moment. "Buffoon, but you are not. You are not going to be the one to take over the world and before this is over with it will be I, Dr. Drakken that has the ladies climbing all over me, not you!"

Shaking his fist to clear it off the melon juices clinging to it he turned and stomped out of the kitchen, only to reenter a moment later to clean up the destroyed melon and to reclaim his glass of coco moo and to snag the last remaining melon to take to his room to eat.

Entering the room sat aside as his, Drakken made for a crate that contained components he had brought back from his desert lair with him. Opening the crate, between bites of Ivy's new melon and quick drinks of coco moo, he added bits and pieces of electronic components from the pile near his bed to the glowing orb like structure that had been revealed in the box. Clicking the last circuit board into place Drakken stared entranced at the mishmash of parts before him.

"Report." He bellowed after a moment and then lowered his voice to look suspiciously at his closed bedroom door as if fearing someone would enter to see what he was up to.

"Bebe group hive mind is online." A droning female voice called out from the orb.

"Excellent." Drakken said rubbing his hands together in glee.

"Where is Bebe bodies?" The voice from the glowing orb asked.

"Um, I haven't gotten around to that part yet." Drakken admitted. "I will, I promise but I need more components yet for that. For right now I want to work on your programming and instruction sets."

"Bebe is listening Dr. Drakken. What are your commands."

Drakken took a deep breath. This, as Shego had so loudly pointed out in the past was where he went wrong before. The first time the Bebe's lacked individual reasoning and thusly was easily overwhelmed by Kim Possible and the second time the Bebe's had been brought to life they had turned on him because he failed to program in sufficient loyalty to him.

"Whom do Bebes follow?" He asked

"Bebes follow the greatest leader." The orb replied without hesitation.

Drakken considered. Since he was the greatest leader that shouldn't be a problem, as long as the Bebes knew he was the greatest leader of course. "Listen up Bebe." He commanded, even though he didn't have to. It was an orb sitting on the floor of his room, what else could it do at the moment than listen to him?

"Dr. Drakken is the greatest leader of all time. Repeat."

"Dr. Drakken is the greatest leader of all time." The orb replied dutifully.

"Bebes will only ever follow the greatest leader of all time and no other."

"Bebes will only ever follow the greatest leader of all time and no other." The orb once again parroted what Dr. Drakken told it.

"Excellent." Drakken nearly cackled and reaching over clicked the orb off before it could repeat that as well.

AAAA

The Pot of Gold over the Rainbow Casino

AAAA

Bonnie was living the high style. After checking into her room after arriving and getting a good eight hours of sleep she had emerged into the casino and her luck just seemed to keep getting better and better. First there was the 'Kim clones' running around all over the casino. At first, Bonnie had thought most of the women were just wearing cheap wigs and contact lenses but the more she was around them the more she began to wonder if the casino hadn't just found natural red headed green eyed women to work in the place. If it wasn't for the fact that each and every one of them had the exact same eye color and hair color that should be impossible to match was what finally convinced Bonnie that they had to be wearing wigs and contact lenses.

The novelty of ordering women that looked almost identical to Kim Possible around to get her drinks or just being rude to them for enjoyment was more fun that Bonnie had had in a long time. In the back of her mind she could see the image of her master Ron frowning at her but Bonnie made sure to tip the casino employees freely so even though she was insufferably rude to them they almost clustered around her constantly when she was on the casino floor.

And then there was the gambling. Bonnie had never done a great deal of gambling, mostly because every time her mother took her sisters to the casinos of Vegas she found some reason for Bonnie to stay home. Most of the time when they came back her mother and sisters would bitch and moan about how hard it was to win, let alone break even but Bonnie was finding it was remarkably easy to win money. Slot machines and roulette wheels especially seemed to love her. It was rare for her to put more than three coins in a slot machine before it paid off in some way and the roulette was even easier. Black, red, odd or even no matter what combination Bonnie played it seemed to always be a winning one.

Bonnie made sure she made good use of her winnings too. Having only the clothing she had stolen from that woman at the airport Bonnie had purchased for herself some really expensive and fine evening wear. Not the least of all was a stylish money belt she kept around her waist, inside which she kept the precious stones she had stolen to give to Ron and his slaves when she saw them next. There was no way she was going to leave the gems in her hotel room after all.

As Bonnie played the 'games of chance' in the casino she found her hand always going down to briefly touch the belt to reassure herself it was still with her, her hand always coming to rest on the pouch containing the ugliest and yet largest 'jewel' in her collection. The Luna Stone.

When not gambling or working out in the casino's gym, Bonnie had also found out that Vegas had more 'fetish' clothing stores than almost anywhere in the world. In no time, she had found a leather worker to replace her Shadow Cat costume she had to leave behind in Middletown with a new and improved version. This version even had a coiled leather whip to go at her hip. Oh not for Bonnie to use on anyone. That was reserved for her master Ron to use to discipline Bonnie.

Bonnie couldn't wait to find Ron and have him use the whip on her for the first time and 'improve' her. The only thing that brought Bonnie's spirits down was that she couldn't wear her costume in public for others to see whom she belonged to; she kept the costume on under her outer clothing though. There was no way she was going to be surprised by Kim or Global Justice and lose yet another costume, she did refrain from wearing the whip or the collar though as those would be hard to hide. The other thing that managed to temper the fun she was having in Vegas was the knowledge she was no closer to finding her Master than she had been in Middletown.

Striding across the casino, Bonnie snapped her fingers and instantly one of the red headed, green eyed women that worked the casino was there in front of her. "I would like a drink. Whiskey sour." Bonnie commanded. The girl gritted her teeth at the snobbish behavior but knowing that the woman was a good tipper she ran to place the order at the bar for her and for the sake of the huge tip she was sure of getting she vowed once again not to spit in the drink.

Bonnie accepted the drink and 'accidentally' dropped the girl's tip making her scramble on the floor for it. Bonnie felt like giggling at the girl's expense but suddenly felt a chill run through her, she couldn't explain it but Bonnie suddenly had a feeling that something major was going to happen and it was going to happen soon.

AAAA

Global Justice

AAAA

"What have we got?" Kim asked as she strode into the main control room. Will Du who had been studying a paper looked over in her direction. "We think we have found out how Miss Rockwaller escaped our dragnet."

Kim just raised an eyebrow as she waited.

"We found a suspicious last minute booking on a plane heading toward Vegas on the day you confronted Rockwaller."

"Tell me Bonnie wasn't stupid as to use her own name to buy a ticket?" Kim asked surprised.

Wade's image appeared on the large central screen in the control room. "Nothing that simple. She used an anagram. Abbe Tone Poplins."

Kim scrunched her face up as she thought. "But that can't be an anagram of her name. Bonnie Rockwaller doesn't have any S's in it or a T for that matter."

Agent Du practically smirked at her. "But Abbe Tone Poplins is an anagram of Bonnie Stoppable."

Kim's face turned pale and her hands automatically clenched into fists. "Oh no she didn't?" She asked in a voice nearly shaking in sudden rage.

This time Du did smirk. "She did. I think we can safely assume now that Bonnie is a member of Stoppable's gang and played Dr. Director and you for a fool."

"And I think it would be best if we refrained from assumptions considering how poorly such actions have served us in the past." Dr. Director's voice called out coldly.

The smirk was instantly gone from Du's face. "Yes Dr. Director." He replied.

Kim turned to look towards where Dr. Director had made her entrance to the command center. "Shall I go to Vegas to see if she is still there?" She asked eagerly.

Dr. Director shook her head. "It is highly doubtful that the woman would hang around after booking a flight there with such an obvious alias." Dr. Director turned her attention to Du. "And why if she used such a name did it take so long for us to track her?" She asked with a raised eyebrow over her good eye.

Du had the decency to look slightly embarrassed. "I have no excuses Dr. Director. I interviewed her family and friends and tried to calculate where the young woman on her own would run to hide. After exhausting all my ideas I then started a search of transportation means to leave town. I left the airlines to the last figuring a woman with no clothing or luggage would choose that means only as a last resort. Having started checking the airlines and finding nothing, I…" Du hesitated.

"He asked my help." Wade called out from the screen. "I took the lists of bus, train and airplane bookings and ran them through my computer and found the anagram trick."

"Please Dr. Director allow me to take some Global Justice agents to Las Vegas to search for her there. I don't know how Bonnie escaped me but I know the Bonnie I knew was never too good on making long range plans. She used to do things on a whim." Kim begged.

"The probability that she is just hanging around waiting for you to arrive to capture her is not very high." Dr. Director stated and rubbed her chin as she thought. "Okay, on the off chance you are right and Bonnie is hiding in Las Vegas, Du and you and two other agents may go to Vegas to search for her but once again I will remind you that Du is in charge and you shall take your orders from him."

Kim wanted to argue she could do it better on her own but instead of arguing she merely nodded her head.

AAAA

Ron's House

AAAA

Drakken once again found himself sitting in the kitchen as he waited for the buffoon to show up to fix lunch. Drakken could cook for himself if he wanted to but why should he? The buffoon was the one that fancied himself a chef so why should he, The Great Drakken do the cooking? Not to mention that way he avoided burning himself which seemed to happen whenever Drakken tried to do anything more than bake cookies.

Eventually an exhausted but very happy Ron walked into the kitchen followed by a relaxed Ivy and Harley and Shego. Rufus was riding on Shego's shoulder and Drakken could only hope that the naked mole rat had been picked up after the mini orgy and had not been witness to the debauchery that had gone on. Drakken mentally toyed with the idea of turning the buffoon into PETA for corrupting a minor mole rat. While the ladies sat down at the table, Ron started fixing something. Glancing over his shoulder at Drakken as he cooked, he asked. "Did you remember to build that device I asked you to?"

Drakken looked confused for a moment before reaching into his pocket. "Oh yes, I did. I can't imagine what you plan to do with this thing but I built it as you asked." Pulling a brick shaped object he tossed it towards Ron only to have Shego reach out a hand and snatch it from mid air.

The device was a black brick like object with two lights on the top of it. A red light and a green light and between the two lights was a small button. On the face of the object was a standard numeric keypad.

"What is this thing?" Shego asked as Ron sat a large platter of Chinese food on the table.

Ron took the object from her and pressed the button on the top between the two buttons he then slowly and randomly typed sixteen digits on the keypad. The device made a buzzing noise and the red light came on. Pressing the button between the lights again, Ron then concentrated for a moment. Shego could see his brown eyes slowly developing a green tint to them. It wasn't extreme but it was noticeable if you were looking into his eyes. This time Ron's fingers flew over the numeric keypad without pause, the device made a slight 'ding' noise, and the green light glowed.

"How did you do that?" Drakken asked in amazement. "That should be impossible."

"What should be impossible? What is that thing?" Harley now asked being eaten alive with curiosity.

"It is a random number generator." Drakken answered her. "Each time the button on top is pressed it randomly generates a sixteen digit code and then waits for someone to type in the code on the keypad…"

Ron pressed the button between the lights and his eyes still glowing slightly green once again rapidly typed in the numbers. Once again, the machine dinged and the light glowed green.

"And if you get the right code it signals and lets you know." Drakken finished with wonder in his voice.

Drakken couldn't take his eyes off the device as Ron casually ate his lunch while he left his left hand resting on the device and reset it and typed string after string of numbers into the box without seemingly concentrating and the device continued to ring and let him know each time that the codes were correct ones.

Finally, Harley couldn't stand it. "Why?" She asked.

Before Ron could comment, it was Ivy that answered her. "Casinos use numeric coded door locks to secure areas. Ron is practicing to see if he can break their codes."

"But how?!" Drakken nearly shouted and had to resist the urge to pull his hair out. "Do you know what the statistical probability of randomly typing in numbers and hitting a sixteen digit code is? One digit out of place and the device won't work. How can he just not even pay attention and keep hitting the right codes?!"

Harley just grinned. "There is more to our Ronnie than just a great chef and sex machine." She stated proudly.

Ron's fingers slipped on the keypad and the device buzzed and the red light came on. Frowning Ron reset the device and rapidly typed once again, this time the device dinged and the green light came on. "Gotta work on not letting my concentration slip no matter what." Ron muttered to himself.

"Casinos usually have fingerprint and optical locks as well." Ivy pointed out. "How are you going to get past those?"

Ron reached out and patted Rufus on the head. "If me and Rufus could get into villains' lairs all these years, I think we can break into casino secure areas. Don't you old buddy?"

Rufus thought for a moment and then made a thumb's up gesture.

"So what's the plan?" Harley asked as she picked up the plate in front of her after finishing her meal and started to lick it.

"Harley! Stop that." Ivy growled at her. "You would think you have never eaten before!"

"But it was good Red!" Harley whined.

Ivy rolled her eyes and then looked to Ron. "So what is the plan for tomorrow?"

Ron looked thoughtful. "I think we need to do a dry run. Just to see how easy it will be to blend in with the casino's staff and get in and out of the secure areas. We'll pick a casino tomorrow and…" Ron looked confused.

"Case the place." Harley finished for him.

Ron nodded. "Yeah we'll case the place tomorrow. See how easy it is to get into the secure areas and see if security spots us and escorts us out. If not…"

"We rob them tomorrow." Shego firmly stated.

"But what about a 'dry run'…" Ron started to argue.

"No Ron, you listen to me when it comes to crime. The longer you hang around a place the easier it is for your marks to figure out you are targeting them. I agree that practice in general would be a good idea but if it looks like it is a piece of cake and we get through the first obstacle with no problems, I say we hit them hard and fast tomorrow rather than give them a chance to review their security tapes and notice we keep popping up in them."

Ron shrugged. "Okay. If things look like smooth sailing, tomorrow we rob a casino. Any choices on which one to start with?"

"You promised I could get my revenge on the one that cheated me!" Drakken reminded him. "So we hit the Pot of Gold over the Rainbow!"

Ron gave an almost imperceptible shudder, one which Shego picked up on. What had possessed him to suggest that to Drakken? It would mean having to casually make his way through a casino filled with 'Kims'. Talk about reminders making it difficult to forget and old ex.

Shego briefly nudged him with her shoulder. "Just remind yourself that none of those girls are really Kim." She whispered to him as the others excited over the job the next day talked.

AAAA

Author's notes

AAAA

Aren't anagrams fun?

Just for fun here are some more anagrams for the name Bonnie Rockwaller.

A Nibble Postpone (Really wanted to use that one but it doesn't sound like a name)  
A Bibles Opponent

Babe Nipples Onto  
Babe Pile Nonstop (considering what Bonnie hopes, that might have been a good one too)

Blab Intense Poop

Baboon Pee Splint (You can splint…um, never mind.)

As I've often said in my author's notes before, most of my ideas come from dreams. Well recently, I had a dream laying out possibly the rest of this story, and while I admit it would be a good one, it would be one long epic story. The question I would like to post to my readers is this. Which would you prefer? For me to wrap this story up fairly quickly with a semi okay ending or to go with my dream's idea and turn this into a monster of a story that may never end? I can't give you any more information than that because if I do decide to go with the monster epic, I want each twist and turn to be a surprise.


	19. Chapter 19

Partners in Crime

By Weirdbard

Chapter 19

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On board the hovercraft on the way to Las Vegas

AAAA

Ron stood facing the windscreen of the flying hovercraft with his legs braced wide and tried to ignore the arguments going on behind him as they flew towards their destination. On his shoulder, Rufus had adopted a similar pose. Briefly, Ron thought to himself that all he needed was an eye patch and a cutlass at his side and he could be a modern day pirate bearing down on a fat treasure galleon. That is if modern day pirates wore fine Italian suits instead of traditional pirate garb.

"What do you think Rufus?" asked nodding at the barely visible sand dunes in the predawn gloom passing slowly under the craft.

"Polly wants some cheese." Rufus squeaked surprising Ron that the naked mole rat must have had similar thoughts of pirates going through his mind.

Ron chuckled. "No pirate in history ever had a parrot as clever or as resourceful as you little buddy." Ron grinned. A grin that faded as the arguments going on behind him grew louder. "Or as argumentative a crew." He finished under his breath as he turned to look back at the squabling parties. The hovercraft was cloaked and traveling slowly on auto pilot so Ron didn't fear they would run into anything or be spotted as he tried to intervene in the argument going on.

"You can't possibly be standing there telling me I should stay on board while the rest of you go off to have fun." Drakken yelled at Harley Quinn for about the fifth time since they started this morning.

"Who else should be the one to stay behind if not you?" Harley shouted back.

Drakken paused. He knew he couldn't say Shego. She was the muscle of the group and during a robbery she would certainly be useful. "What about Ivy? What can she do if things get dicey?"

Drakken looked over to see Ivy lounging on one of the guard rails surrounding the bridge of the hover craft. The woman merely raised an eyebrow in his direction and then leaning over she picked up a black case that was sitting in one of the chairs and opened it to show him the contents. Inside the box were several clear round objects with a greenish red liquid swirling inside. On top of the glass balls were thin metallic screens.

"What are those things?" Drakken asked intrigued in spite of himself.

My undiluted blood can mutate any plant instantly and make it agreeable to my commands." Ivy explained to him. "Theses balls contain a mixture of my blood and a rapid growth fertilizer. If I were to throw them into a room they would release a fine mist allowing me to control dozens of plants in a room at the same time." Ivy shrugged. "It isn't as efficient as drops of my direct blood of course but it is more convenient than my walking around to each plant in a room to bleed on them."

"Plants?" Drakken sneered. "What good could plants do in a fight?" He asked.

Shego dressed in her typical black and green outfit tilted her head to the side as she stared at him. "That's right you weren't with us when we robbed that bank and haven't spent any time in her greenhouse back home. You would be surprised at what Ivy's plants can do when she commands them. Take my word for it. I would rather have one or two of Ivy's plants in a pitched battle than a dozen of your synthodrones."

"Oh all right." Drakken pouted folding his arms across his chest. "Shego and Ivy might be useful in a confrontation but what can you do?" He said to Harley.

Harley without speaking bent over backwards till her head was nearly touching her heels. Placing her hands on either side of her palm downwards on the deck she then slowly rotated her legs over her body until they were stretched out behind her. Flexing her fingers, she then did several slow pushups with her weight resting on just her toes and her fingertips. She then once again folded her body in half till her feet had returned to the exact same position in which she started. Standing back up straight she then suddenly did the splits till she was sitting on the deck of the hover craft with her legs straight out to either side of her. Slowly rotating her body Harley serpentine till she once again back to a standing position in front of Drakken. All in all her display of physical prowess hadn't taken up more space than her body stretched out behind her had done. Even though Ron and Shego were familiar with just how flexible Harley could be, it was an impressive display of gymnastics that nearly left them breathless, and to be truthful, a little aroused as well.

"That's what she can do." Ivy said with a smile at her lover. Harley just stared defiantly at Drakken without even breathing hard at the effort she had just done.

"Yes, yes. It was very impressive but I can rewire a control panel if it calls for it. Can she do that?"

Harley expelled a breath loudly through her nose and stomped away from him. "I am not staying behind and that is that." She growled at him over her shoulder.

Drakken looked to Shego. "I am just saying that you might need my genius in there."

Shego rolled her eyes.

"Look." Ron sighed. "We'll just leave the hovercraft hovering over the roof of the casino with it cloaked and we'll all go in."

"See? He understands that he might need my brains." Drakken said gesturing at Ron.

"And his name is?" Harley asked from where she had slumped into one of the chairs of the craft and was currently glaring at Drakken.

"His name is…" Drakken paused. "He knows what his name is." He finished after a moment.

Harley angrily thumped the arms of the chair. "He still can't even remember your name Ronnie! What do we need him for?" She yelled to Ron. "I say we throw him overboard!"

Ron merely raised a hand to try and calm Harley down. "I don't know what kind of mental block Dr. D. has when it comes to me but we're not going to throw him off his own hover craft. We all can and will contribute to the plan."

"His hovercraft?" Harely muttered under her breath. "He didn't even remember having one. It was Shego who reminded him and it was she that went out and fetched it and then gave it a maintenance check over. If it belongs to anyone I say it belongs to her and not him."

Drakken childishly smirked at her, pleased he wasn't going to be left behind when they made the casino that had ripped him off pay for their deception.

"Well if he is going, he can't go like that." Harley said pulling herself up to sit upright in the chair.

"What do you mean? My clothing is just as good as…" Drakken gestured at Ron.

"Not the clothing Chuckles." Harley nearly sneered at him. "Your face. It's blue in case you have forgotten. Unless the security and staff of the casino think you are part of the Blue Man Group, you aren't going to get more than three feet inside the casino before everyone starts staring at you and maybe calling security."

"I will not draw any more attention that Shego will." Drakken replied triumphantly, that is until he looked over to see that Shego was now sitting in a chair and had open a compact and was applying flesh colored makeup over her green tinted skin. A quick glance at Ivy revealed she was doing the same.

"Oh no, not that!" Drakken replied with horror as he saw Harley had risen and had a compact in her hand and was heading his way. "I have very fine and sensitive skin. You put that goop on my face and I will break out in a rash!"

"Not that makeup." Ivy paused in her own efforts to correct him. "I created that makeup. It is completely hypoallergenic and has no animal products in it at all. It is waterproof and smear proof but easily removed with Alo Vera."

"Better that you should break out in a rash anyway than be arrested on the spot and later break out in jail bars." Harley smiled as she suddenly forward flipped onto her hands, then sprang forward, twisted in mid air to land on Drakken, and drive him backwards into a chair. As Drakken landed in an angle on the 

chair, Harley's legs slide through the spaces of the arm rest locking Drakken firmly into the chair with his arms pinned to his sides with Harley sitting on his chest.

"Now this is going to hurt a bit." Harley stated with an almost evil smile as she spread some of the makeup on her fingers from the compact.

"The expression is, this WON'T hurt a bit." Drakken corrected her.

"Not the way I apply makeup." Harley grinned even larger as she pulled her hand back and slapped the makeup covered fingers across Drakken's face, she then backhanded him with the same hand smearing the makeup over his face even more.

"Harley." Ron called out.

She looked over at him with as innocent a look as she could muster. "Yes Ron?"

"Don't bruise the poor guy, okay?"

"Oh of course not Ronnie." Harley said with a smile as Drakken sputtered as Harley continued to smear his face with the makeup while she she continued to look at Ron with a sweet innocent smile.

"So what is the plan?" Shego asked as finished with her own makeup and slipped on a dark jacket that did a fairly passable job of muting and hiding her normal, and well known criminal wear making it appear that she was just wearing unusual styled evening wear, which in Vegas the city that never sleeps was always acceptable wear.

"We'll land on top of the casino with the hovercraft in stealth mode. I'll find an air vent into the casino and slip Rufus into it. He'll do a quick scouting mission to see what he can find out about the security they have in the building and locate what he needs to do to put them in the dark. We'll enter the casino through the main lobby and make our way back to the employee only doors and slip into the maintenance areas and make our way to the casino's vault area. Crack the vault and make our way out with the money."

An annoyed Drakken joined Ron and Shego, still dabbing at the makeup on his face while holding the compact Harley had had. "That easy huh? In broad daylight yet?"

Ron shrugged. "Day or night means little in Las Vegas Dr. D. Security is tight no matter what time you try anything and with all the bright neon lights it is not like waiting till night will help us all that much. If nothing else, security will be like you and never expect someone to stage a daylight attack."

Ron glanced over at Harley and Ivy who were making their way to join the group at the front of the hover craft. Ivy had replaced her normal 'working clothes' with a dark green dress with light green ivy like pattern running along the edges of the skirt, darker green stockings leading to green boots finished the apparel. Harley like Shego had decided to just add a long dark coat that made her black and red tights to seem to be just part of a dress, she of course left off the jester's hood with tassels and but 

continued to wear her blond hair in pigtails. "All I ask you all is, don't kill anyone and try to keep from harming them too much." Ron said to them.

Ivy raised an eyebrow. "And say we get into a situation where they are shooting to kill us and the only way we can escape is by taking someone out?" She asked.

Ron paused for a long long moment. "Then do whatever you have to do to escape." He stated and then turned his back to them to look out the window of the craft.

Both of Ivy's eyebrows rose at that and she turned to look at an equally surprised Harley. Knowing Ron they figured he would have said something like, we can't harm innocent people just trying to do their jobs so surrender and will rescue you later or something like that. Neither one of them would have suspected Ron would tell them to do whatever it took to escape.

"We're almost there." Ron said pulling them from their thoughts.

Looking out the windscreen of the hover craft, they all could see he was right. They were nearing the outskirts of Las Vegas, the glow of the casinos was fighting the dawn's morning light, and within moments, they would be at their target.

AAAA

Las Vegas Airport: Kim and Du

AAAA

Kim wasted no time. As soon as they arrived, she ran out of the airport and started showing pictures of Bonnie to the cab drivers waiting outside the airport entrance, sipping coffee and munching donuts as they waited to take guests to hotels and casinos.

Agent Du walked over as Kim talked to about the sixth cab driver in a row. "Do you think some cab driver that deals with hundreds of people on a daily business is going to remember one fairly common looking brown haired woman?" He asked derisively.

Kim turned her head to glare at him but was stopped as the cab driver she had handed the photo to replied. "Yeah I remember her. She arrived about eight days ago."

Kim turned to look at him in excitement but managed to curb her enthusiasm as Du asked. "Are you sure it was this woman? I mean there is nothing really distinctive about her. Perhaps you made a mistake?"

The driver shook his head. "Nope I'm certain. It was this woman. She told me to take her to a casino but she didn't know which one so she left it up for me to pick. She didn't have any luggage except for a carrying on bag so I thought she was just a day tripper and probably didn't have a lot of money so I took 

her to the nearest casino. Boy was I surprised when we arrived she handed me a hundred dollar bill and told me to keep the change. Guess I was wrong. The broad must have been loaded."

Kim with a slow almost evil smile starting asked. "Which casino was it you took her to?"

The cab driver turned to point off into the distance. "That one over there, the fancy one done all in emerald green and gold, it's called the Pot of Gold over the Rainbow."

Du gestured over two other global agents standing near the front of the airport entrance to come join them. "We would like to book your cab to take us to that same casino."

The cab driver looked nervous. The woman he had delivered to that casino eight days ago had been cute and a good tipper and while he wasn't sure about the red head grinning evilly in front of him those other guys looked like bodyguards or mafia hit men. "Um that woman isn't in any trouble is she?"

Kim cracking her knuckles replied. "Oh no. Not at all. She is just an old friend of mine that owes me a drink and since we're in Vegas at the same time, I thought it was high time she repaid me for that drink."

"Um, okay. I guess." The cab driver replied and opened the passenger side door for Kim to get in.

"Agent Swanson and agent Brickle will ride in back with you Possible. I shall ride up front with the cab driver." Du stated as he moved to the front passenger door.

"Oh hey now. No riders in front. Company rules." The cab driver stated as the two men named slide in the cab with the red head.

Du frowned at the delay.

"I suppose we all can get in the back together. Possible will just have to sit on someone's lap for the ride."

"Nope." The cab driver replied again. "I don't allow kinky stuff in my cab and once again safety rules state that no more than three can ride in the back of the cab at one time."

"Agent Swanson! Get out of the cab and catch another one."

"But sir, I'm already inside." The agent complained. He kind of liked the fact that an oblivious Kim Possible was sandwiched between him and his buddy. She was dressed in her typical 'mission' clothing meaning the cargo pants and the crop top. You would think after getting out of high school she would update her wardrobe a little but no she still wore the same thing on missions as she did back in high school, just of course a slightly larger size to make up for her more womanly curves now.

"There is no way you can control agent Possible until I can arrive if indeed Bonnie is at that casino. Now get out of the cab now!" Agent Du barked.

The man grumbled but as he slid out but he made sure as he moved to get out to 'accidentally' touch Kim on her bare waist and allowed his fingers to rest there a moment longer than was necessary. Even 

though Kim was distracted by her thoughts of what she was going to do to Bonnie when she found her, Kim noticed the move. She turned to look at the remaining agent sitting next to her. "You even think about attempting what your buddy just did and I'll break every bone in your hand. And when we get to the casino you might want to warn that buddy of yours that he's on my 'list'."

The man gulped and nodded his head and turned to look out the window on his side and refrained from even glancing at Kim again. A moment later Du slid in next to her.

AAAA

The Pot of Gold over the Rainbow Casino

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Bonnie felt an almost electrical energy flowing over her skin as she entered the casino from the attached restaurant where she had had breakfast this morning. She could have ordered in room service as she had done on every other day since arriving but for some reason she felt she needed to be near the casino more than ever. Something big was going to happen today. She could just feel it. Maybe today her luck was going to be even greater than it had been so far and she was going to break the casino's bank? Bonnie had to suppress a giggle at that thought. It wouldn't be the best way to 'lay low' she suspected to break the bank and end up owning a casino but it sure might get her Master's attention.

"_That and Kim Possible and Global Justice too." _Bonnie reminded herself.

"Will there be anything else Miss Sols?" Yet another of the red haired, green eyed women working the casino asked her. Bonnie was confused for a moment before remembering that was the name she had registered under. Raven Sols, yet another anagram. Bonnie smiled. No one knew she loved word games and was actually quite good at them, even the few 'close' friends she had in high school thought she thought of nothing but boys and money and hadn't realized she was actually quite clever. This anagram was different from her last one as it was from the letters of the phrase Ron's Slave rearranged. Somewhere in the back of Bonnie's mind was the faint hope that Ron was searching for her and if he got close he might pick up on the anagrams and find her.

"No, that will be all." Bonnie answered imperiously as she waved her hand. "Although you need to work on keeping your uniform more neat and tidy. It is a disgrace." She added just to be mean. As usual as soon as the words left her mouth, she could see in her mind's eye her master Ron looking at her in disapproval so she slipped a fifty on the table as a tip to the waitress.

The waitress who had been about to glare at the snobbish woman she had waited on settled for smiling instead when she saw the huge tip. With that kind of money, she would gladly put up with the rude and obnoxious guest. She had heard from the other girls that this one was a hateful woman but a good tipper but she had put it off to the usual gossip that went on in a large casino. Everyone was always 

bragging about the great tippers in Las Vegas but in reality it happened far fewer times than most people would believe.

"I hope to see you at lunch Miss. We will be having a steak and lobster buffet." The woman said with a smile as she slipped the fifty into her blouse.

.

.

Ron sat on the roof of the large casino and watched the air vent that Rufus had went into almost an hour and a half ago. On the surface he looked calm, almost bored but it was taking all his nerves to keep from yelling into the vent for his best friend. The Casino was a typical massive Las Vegas affair so Ron knew it would take Rufus time to make his way down the many floors of the hotel and through the many twists and turns till he found the security room but he still couldn't help but worry.

Ron could sense Shego walking up beside him, the rest having decided to wait in the cloaked hover craft to avoid any possible signs of being detected by the few helicopters that occasionally flew in the Las Vegas morning light.

"You think he's okay? He's been in there a long time." Shego asked as she kneeled down next to Ron and stared at the vent herself.

"Oh sure. I mean Rufus along with me and…" Ron trailed off and Shego knew he had been about to mention Kim's name. "Have crawled through hundreds of villain's air vents. How much more difficult can it be to crawl through a casino's ones?" Ron finished after his brief pause.

He hated himself for how he still choked up when trying to say Kim's name. Should it be this hard to forget a woman that rejected you and move on? He had more women than he knew what to do with, what with Shego, Ivy and Harley. Well that wasn't exactly true. He knew what to do with them and along with them discovered many a varied and unique combination but no matter how much he loved Shego and cared for Ivy and Harley, a small part of him refused to forget Kim and he longed to cuddle her in his arms once again. That is, if Kim would allow him to. What with him being a villain now and her not thinking he was good enough.

Shego placed a hand on Ron's arm. "You still feel something for her don't you?" She asked.

"Who?" Ron asked trying to play as if he didn't understand her question.

"You know who." Shego said with a trace of bitterness in her voice. "Princess. That's who. The one who dumped you and treated you like dirt…"

"I know what she did." Ron replied with his own bitterness. His face softened as he turned to look Shego in the eyes. "I can't explain it Shego. I know I should hate her and just push her out of my mind but… I knew her my entire life." Ron sighed. "It is just going to take time."

Shego raised an eyebrow at him. "Are you going to be able to handle going through the casino below us filled with dozens and dozens of women with the same hair and eye color?" Shego asked.

Ron nodded his head. "Of course. Like you said earlier, they aren't her and she is miles and miles away from this place."

Shego started to say something more when the small communication devices that both Ron and her were wearing in their ears suddenly crackled to life and Rufus's high squeaking voice rang in their ears.

Ron reaching up pressed the earpiece more deeply into his ear. "Hey buddy. What did you find out?"

More rapid squeaking followed. Shego whom had gotten pretty good at understanding Rufus was still at a loss at the speed of the naked mole rat's words and looked over to Ron for a translation.

"Rufus says he found the main security room and that all the surveillance equipment enters the center at one bottleneck point. Rufus says he has already chewed the link almost through and is just waiting for us to give him the go ahead to plunge their cameras and alarms into darkness." Ron listened at more rapid fire squeaking from Rufus. "He's given me a basic idea how to find the vault areas and says he can disable most of the outside phone lines, fancy locks and security equipment from where he's at. All we'll have to deal with is the numeric locks on the door and the secure elevator that requires a key and leads to the basement where the vaults are. Everything is a go."

Shego nodded and straightening up she waved her arm in the direction she knew the hovering hover craft was waiting. She had to give Dr. D. one thing, when he stole technology, he stole the best. Other than a slight humming in the air and a slight warm breeze from the baffled air jets, she would never know a huge flying craft was a dozen or so feet away from her. Appearing almost magically in mid air was a flying disk as it slid out of the invisible door of the hover craft. On the disk were Drakken, Ivy and Harley and the disk lowered quickly to hover near her and Ron.

"Can you cloak that thing as well so we don't float down in front of everyone?" Ron asked looking up at the now bright sunshine flooding down.

"Of course." Drakken replied in annoyance.

"You can?" Shego asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Er… I think there is a button on this thing for that?" Drakken more questioned than stated as he studied the raised control platform in front of him. Nodding his head, he reached out and punched a button on the console as Ivy and Harley winced expecting the disk to suddenly fall the last few feet to land on the roof of the casino. A higher pitched hum was heard and instantly Drakken, Ivy, Harley and the disk vanished from Ron and Shego's sight.

"You know, that would be so awesome if I didn't know now where to get on the disk at." Ron muttered to himself as he walked over to where the disk had been last.

Suddenly an arm appeared out of thin air and grabbing a hold of Ron's arm pulled him forward and up onto the invisible flying disk. "Harley! Watch the hands! There will be time later for that." Ron's voice floated out of the thin air as Shego walked over and seeing Ivy's arm now appear out of thin air, grabbed it and let Ivy help pull her onto the disk.

"Next stop the ground floor of my great casino heist." Drakken's voice was heard.

"Your heist? It is our heist remember?" Harley's annoyed voice could be heard.

"I'll fly us down to the entrance." Shego stated.

"I am quite capable of flying this disk."

Suddenly one of the air conditioner vents on the roof gave out a loud bang and eight inch gash magically appeared on its side as the vent bent over sideways.

"DRAKKEN!" Shego's voice growled.

"Oh all right. I can fly it but just to appease you, you may fly it." Dr. Drakken's shaken voice called out.

.

.

Bonnie at a roulette table let out a loud whoop as once again the number she had picked came up and she won again. Looking at the table a moment, she slid all of the chips onto another number. "Let her ride! Queen B needs a new pair of Cadillacs." A small group of casino guests had gathered around to watch her. The ones who had seen her around the tables the last few days had taken to calling her Lady Luck as she never seemed to lose.

As the spinning wheel finally ground to a halt and the small metallic ball came to a rest on a number, everyone at the table glanced at the number and then at the number covered by the quite substantial mound of Bonnie's chips.

The red head running the table gave a brief shake of her head in wonder. "Winner again." She proclaimed.

"Yeah! Queen B is on a streak today." Moving the chips to yet another number, she looked at the red head behind the wheel. "Let her ride." Looking at yet another nearly identical looking waitress standing at her side, she ordered a glass of ice tea. "Queen B is thirsty. Bring me tea and make it quick or no big tip for you!" She ordered imperiously.

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.

Quickly entering the casino through the main entrance Ron and his group casually broke apart and individually made their way towards the rear of the casino where the employee only doors leading into the maintenance areas of the casino were located. Drakken craned his neck as he heard a woman's voice shouting in joy at winning again and frowned. At least someone seemed to be having good luck in this blasted place. Drakken could feel his face under the makeup burn with shame at the memories of standing outside this casino begging people for spare change so he could get back in to try and win. He was going to enjoy taking money from this place far more than he had ever enjoyed any of the other criminal capers he had committed with Shego before. The only fly in the ointment was the fact that this wasn't one of his plans but he was following the lead of a buffoon. Reaching the door that was clearly marked, 'no unauthorized personnel beyond this point' he watched as first the buffoon and then the rest of their group reached the doors. Ron walked up and studied the door for a moment before pressing the communication earpiece he was wearing. "Okay buddy, blindside them."

Drakken waited for something to happen but there was nothing.

"Okay we're ready." Ron replied and nodded up at a surveillance camera mounted to overlook the door. Having had his attention drawn to it, Drakken could see the light under the lens was dark and it had ceased moving showing it was now dead.

Ron's fingers flew over the numeric keypad on the door and Drakken almost hoped the buffoon couldn't do it on the first go so he could gloat but no such luck. As Ron's fingers finished hitting the last digit a click could be heard as the lock opened and Ron opened the door and they entered. A long corridor with many intersections and other nondescript doors with numeric locks were revealed.

"Okay buddy, which way to the elevator that leads down?" Ron asked pressing on the earpiece once again. "The metal door with the numeric lock?" Ron looked down the corridor with the rest of his group at the dozens of metal doors all with keypads on them and that was just the section they were in. The corridor continued on to at least two more intersections they could see and Ron was just willing to bet that in either direction down those intersections were more nondescript metal doors with keypad locks.

"Um Rufus?" Ron asked casually into his earpiece once again. "Which metal door? I mean there are a lot of doors in here."

Shego through her own earpiece could hear the almost embarrassed squeak of the mole rat that sounded suspiciously like, "I don't know."

"Okay guys. This may take a bit longer than I expected it to." Ron said with a sigh as he walked down the corridor and randomly picked a door. After operating the keypad, the door unlocked and revealed… A bathroom.

"What kind of sick person puts a numeric lock on a bathroom in an employee's area?" Harley asked in indignation. What if one of the workers forgets the combination? They just have to squat in the hallway? And the door isn't even marked as a bathroom! That has to be some kind of code violation 

doesn't it? I mean if you need to use the bathroom they should at least give you a hint which door it might be!"

"Well that's a pleasant image I must say about someone having to squat in the hallway." Drakken sneered. "You know, if I had planned this robbery I would know where I was going!"

"If you planned this robbery we would have been stopped at the front entrance." Shego growled in annoyance and with Ron walked to the next untried door.

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.

Bonnie once again shouted in joy as the roulette wheel blessed her by having her number come up again. Taking the glass of tea from the waitress beside her, she casually tossed her a hundred dollar bill as a tip and didn't even watch to see the woman scramble to get it. Taking a sip she made a face and growled. "Next time more sugar. I swear are all red heads idiots?" Moving the ever growing pile of chips onto yet another number, Bonnie allowed her hands to come to rest on her money belt with the stolen jewels inside it. She was terrified someone was going to try to steal the belt and kept reassuring herself it was still with her. "Let it ride!" She shouted to the woman running the wheel.

There was near silence in that part of the casino as guests as well as staff waited with baited breath to see if the rude brunette was still on her winning streaks. The clicking noise as the wheel slowed and the tiny metal ball danced through the numbers slots was all that could be heard. And then…

"Winner again." The woman running the roulette wheel called out once again and everyone cheered, as the cheering died down Bonnie shouted. "Can this day get any better?"

"You know. I was just wondering that myself." A very familiar voice at her side stated. Bonnie her eyes widening looked over and at first she thought it was just another hotel staff member until she realized the red head standing next to her was wearing ugly cargo pants and a crop top and was glaring at her.

"You know Kim…" Bonnie managed to say almost calmly, even though she was screaming in panic on the inside. "We really need to stop meeting like this." Slowly Bonnie's hands reached out for her pile of winning chips on the roulette board.

"You won't need those. Not where you are going." Kim assured her as she reached around behind her to pull out a pair of handcuffs.

"Well then…" Bonnie said as she clutched the colorful casino chips in her hands. "I guess all I can say is…. FREE CHIPS!" She screamed as she threw the chips into Kim's face and then for good measure grabbed her glass of ice tea and threw that into Kim's face as well.

Having thousands of dollars worth of chips rolling on the floor caused instant pandemonium as casino guests and even a few staff members dove to collect them. The combination of tea and chips caused 

Kim to stumble back a few feet and trip over those people as they clawed and fought over the now unclaimed chips.

Bonnie was instantly running for her life towards the front of the casino and escape when she spotted Will Du blocking the entrance. Du and Bonnie's eyes met as she slid to a stop a few feet in front of him and she watched with a look on her face like a deer caught in the headlights as he gestured to the other two Global Justice agents blocking the exits and raised his wrist watch up.

"Aww crap!" Bonnie squealed but as the taser darts were about to hit her and she instinctively took a step back and suddenly slipped on a loose casino chip and stumbled. The dart flew past her and hit someone and Bonnie could hear the crackling as the energy zinged over her head and zapped someone behind her. Bonnie felt really bad about someone getting zapped by a dart meant for her until she looked back and saw that the 'someone' had been Kim, whom had been just about to tackle her from behind.

Scrambling Bonnie got back to her feet and ran past the downed Kim back into the depths of the casino as Du rushed to Kim's side and apologized as he helped her to her feet and to pluck the darts from her shoulder.

"Oh god, this is so not good." Bonnie muttered to herself as she found she had ran herself into a dead end that was blocked by doors with some kind of fancy number locks on them. Reaching down she stroked the money belt around her waist. "I came so far and never got a chance find my Master and to give him and the others their gifts!" Bonnie nearly hyperventilating in panic gasped. Hearing the sounds of pursuit, she glanced back and saw Kim and Du were nearly upon her. Having nothing left to lose Bonnie turned to the door in front of her and wildly stabbed at the number keys.

Just as Du was nearing close enough to try his darts again Bonnie heard a click come from the lock on the door and grabbing the knob she twisted it desperately, and found to her shock the knob turned and the door opened. Opening the door, she dove into whatever awaited her beyond the door and slammed it shut behind her. Once again, she heard the gratifying click as the door relocked itself behind her.

Kim reaching the door slammed her fist on it in frustration and Bonnie on the other side jumped at the dull bang. Deciding that a metal security door wasn't going to hold off Kim for long Bonnie ran down the corridor looking for a door without a number lock on it.

Hearing a click coming from one of the doors down the hallway a bit, Bonnie turned and once again rapidly punched a random code into the nearest locked door. Her eyebrows went up in surprise as once again she heard the telltale click of the lock opening. "Wow. Maybe I should change my criminal name from Shadow Cat to Lady Luck?" Bonnie pondered for a single heartbeat before pulling open the door and ducking inside and allowing the door to swing shut and lock behind her.

Seven doors down the corridor, the door that Bonnie had heard unlocking swung open to reveal Ron and his group.

"Who designed this place, seriously?" Harley complained as they reentered the main corridor that they had just left a moment ago. "I keep expecting to run into a Minotaur or something."

"They designed it to be confusing if you don't belong back here for a reason." Drakken pointed out.

"Yeah, okay I can accept that but locks on every door? That was a lunchroom for god's sake! What do they expect an interloper to steal in there? Sandwiches? Bags of potato chips? Twinkies?" Harley asked as Ron walked across to the door across the hall from the one they had exited and once again started to type a code into it. No one noticed as Drakken gave a guilty start and quickly stuffed a handful of plastic wrapped Twinkies into his sports jacket.

Harley watched Ron as he entered the code into the new door. "Every door has a different code too don't they?" She asked.

Ron nodded his head.

"That is just plain asinine!" Harley putting her hands on her waist stated. "How do the working girls in this place ever keep all of this straight?"

Shego shrugged. "Maybe they keep a notebook with the doors identified in some way with the pass codes listed next to them or maybe they only know the codes to the rooms they have to use? Like the dressing rooms?"

"And hopefully to that bathroom we passed earlier." Ivy added.

"Wish we could find someone and ask." Harley muttered. "Not that we need the codes with our little code breaker Ron but a map of some type would really come in handy."

Ron turned the knob on the door he had just unlocked and smiled widely. "No need ladies… Oh and Drakken too of course." He said gesturing that the open door had revealed shiny chrome doors of an elevator. There was no button next to the doors but a single keyhole.

"My area of expertise now." Shego stated as she gently moved Ron to the side. Reaching up into her hair, she pulled out a common hairpin and worked at the lock for only a moment before the elevator responded with a ping, letting them know the elevator was on its way from the depths of the casino's basement area. Shego turned to smile triumphantly at the group when they heard the sounds of a door a few doors down opening.

Shego almost flared her hands with her plasma power when she saw a red head with green eyes come out and glance at them curiously. It was only at the last moment she reminded herself that the place was filled with Kim lookalikes and that was not Kim approaching them now. Kim would never be caught dead in the scandalous sequined dress that barely left anything to imagination.

"Oh hi!" the red head called out as she approached them. Spotting Ivy standing in the group the red head assumed she was a new casino staff on her first day. Ron and his group wasn't too sure how to react at first so just stood there in front of the elevator waiting for its arrival.

The red head cocked her head and examined Ivy. "Your hair isn't exactly the right color you know. But don't worry I'm sure they'll fix you up with the right hair in no time."

"Yeah I've been wondering about that. What is up with every woman working here having the exact same hair and eye color?" Harley asked.

"Oh you don't know?" The red head exotic dancer asked. Leaning forward she lowered her voice. "The owner of the casino O'Sullivan went back to his homeland one year for a vacation and they say he picked up a romantic interest, if you know what I mean? Well, the man feared his wife would find out when he came back to the States with a red head on his arm so he built this casino and gave it its name and theme as a way to hide her in plain sight and then brought her over."

"Wait. You mean the guy built a huge casino and only hires women with red hair and green eyes just so he can hide his mistress in plain sight?" Harley asked.

The red head nodded her head.

"He couldn't just buy her a fancy house tucked away somewhere like every other cheating rich guy? And with all the women in here looking the same doesn't he worry he'll someday make a mistake and talk dirty with the wrong woman?"

The exotic dancer giggled. "He does. All the time. But he pays really well if you know what I mean so sometimes the girls just play along."

Harley just shook her head in wonder.

"Where are you going?" The dancer asked. "I've never seen that door opened before. Where does it go?"

"Administration." Ron replied with a stern look on his face.

"Oh." The red head replied kind of vacantly but then gestured at the hallway behind her. "As you can see this place has doors all over the place. I don't think anyone really know where half of them lead to. I only know the doors and codes of the rooms I'm allowed in."

Ivy gave a brief nod of her head. One mystery solved.

"Well I am due on stage in a few moments. Nice meeting you." The red head waved at them as she continued down the corridor back the way they had came in.

The elevator doors opened with a ping and Ron ushered his group into it. As the doors to the elevator slid shut, the outer metal door with the number lock on it automatically swung closed and re-locked.

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Kim tugged angrily on the locked door to the employee only area and resisted the urge to scream obscenities at the top of her voice. That made three times Bonnie had not only escaped from her but 

twice the bitch had thrown a glass of something in her face. Finally realizing that the door wasn't going to open no matter how she tugged on the handle, Kim stepped back and pulled her Kimmunicator from her pocket. Wade would make short work of the combination of the lock and she had wasted enough time with being shocked by Du and his damn taser darts and then this door. Just as she was about to press the button to call Wade however the door gave off a click and started to swing open. Grabbing the handle Kim jerked the door open wide to reveal a woman wearing a sequined costume that barely left anything to the imagination.

The woman gave a 'eep' at the door being ripped out of her hands and gave a startled look at Kim before rolling her eyes. "What is this? Newbie night? You'll want to go down nine doors and it'll be the door on the left. I'm sure they gave you the code for the lock to the dressing room when they hired you." So saying the woman then strolled past Kim into the casino.

Kim rushed into the hallway along with Du, Brickle and Swanson, who was hanging a bit back from Kim Possible after being warned by his buddy that she had noticed his feel up and he was now on her 'list'. Kim nearly groaned when more doors with locks was the only thing to meet her eyes. Holding up her Kimmunicator she pressed the button for Wade

"I've got a problem Wade." She stated as the genius appeared on her screen. Turning the Kimmunicator she showed the corridor of doors.

"Sixteen digit security locks." Wade stated as he typed on his keyboard. "Oh joy, each and every one of them has a different code as well. Wait, that brand of locks all have the same weakness. A certain vibration note when played will force them all to unlock." Wade typed a moment later and a deep sonic rumble came from the device in Kim's hands. All up and down the corridor clicks were heard as the doors unlocked themselves.

"There you go Kim. A piece of cake." Wade replied with a smug smile on his face.

"Thanks Wade. You rock!"

Du placed a hand on Kim's arm as she started for the nearest door to her. "There are far too many doors for us to waste our time with a sloppy search tactic."

Kim breathed deeply as she reminded herself that technically Du was in charge. "Okay, what do you suggest Agent Du?" She gritted out.

"We will search the hallway in a logical and efficient manner."

"Which would be… how?" Kim asked.

"We will all pick a door and search where ever it goes. If we find anything, we will alert the others to come to our aid. That way we will not waste time searching the same area over and over again."

Kim nodded her head but then added under her breath. "Like I needed you to figure that one out?" She then placed a hand on the door she had been about to open and pulling it open she ducked inside.

Du rolled his eyes but then gestured for his agents to pick the next two doors in line and waited till they had entered before taking the fourth door and entered it himself. Du's door had barely swung shut when the fifth door in line opened and Bonnie came out.

"_Whew.! It was lucky that door was the bathroom. Seeing Kim nearly scared the crap out of me and I really needed that bathroom." _Bonnie thought to herself. Hearing a door starting to open Bonnie ran a short distance down the corridor and picking a door she pulled it open without even realizing that the doors were no longer locked and ducked inside.

Kim came out of her chosen doorway and a moment later Du came out of his. "Nothing in this one but a work area for fixing broken slot machines. There was no one inside." Du stated.

Kim nodded her head. "Mine was a storage area for cleaning supplies." Kim walked to the next door in line and pulling it open found a bathroom.

"I'll take this one." She said.

"You can see that there is no one inside." Du pointed out.

"Do you mind? I need to use the bathroom." Kim stated as she went in and pulled the door close behind her.

Du rolled his eyes but decided to wait for Kim to come out of the bathroom before he checked the next door in line, that is until he heard the creak of a door a few yards away and after a moment a timid looking Bonnie stuck her head out into the hallway. Seeing Du standing there, Bonnie gave a startled eep and raced across the hallway to the door directly across from the one she had come out of and ducked into it.

Du banged on the door of the bathroom Kim was inside. "I have spotted suspect Rockwaller and am giving chase." He yelled at the door and then tore down the corridor to the door he had just seen Bonnie duck into.

A highly annoyed Kim came out of the bathroom door a few moments later. "Now where the hell did he get off to?" She asked the empty corridor. Almost as if in answer, a distant door down the hallway banged open and Bonnie ran across the hallway and moving up the hallway slightly she picked another door and ducked into it. Before Kim could give chase, agent Du came running out of the door Bonnie had just left and ran directly across the hallway and opening that door he ran into where ever it lead to not knowing he had picked the wrong one and Bonnie had wisely moved over one doorway.

Kim keeping her eyes fixed on the door she had seen Bonnie run into cracked her knuckles as she raced to it but before she could reach it a door three doors down opened to reveal Bonnie… On the opposite side of the hallway. Bonnie seeing Kim let out a tiny scream of frustration. "Where is the damn exit from this place?" She squealed before ducking back into the door she had just left and slamming it behind her.

Kim skidded to a stop at the door. "How the hell did she cross an open hallway by going into a door on the opposite side of a hallway?" Kim muttered to herself before reaching for the handle of the door. Kim paused as she heard another door down the hallway bang open but this time it was neither Bonnie, Du or either of the two other agents, whom now that Kim thought about it should have shown up by now. Shaking her head to rid herself of the question of where those two had gotten to, she could see the new person who had entered the hallway was a lanky looking teen that seemed to be as confused as everyone else wandering the hallway was. The man had a shaggy haircut and was wearing brown pants with a long green shirt. A small goatee decorated his chin.

Daphne? Velma? Where the heck has everyone gone?" He muttered more to himself than to Kim as he ignored her and seemingly picking a door at random, he opened it and exited the hallway.

"Just how many people are lost in this thing?' Kim asked in wonder. She had a brief fantasy of running into an archeologist or two, looking no doubt for the Temple of the Lost Gambling Chip. Letting out a sigh of frustration Kim pulled on the handle of the door she had seen Bonnie use not more than a few moments ago. The door swung wide to reveal a woman holding a robe up in front of her as if to hide her modesty and as soon as Kim opened the door, the woman shouted in panic. "Occupied!"

Kim in embarrassment quickly shut the door again. Only a split second later to realize the woman had been Bonnie.

"I've always prided myself on the fact that I would never kill anyone but dammit Bonnie you are making me rethink that policy!" Kim screamed as she nearly ripped the door off its frame in rage, only to find the room was now empty. A door in the side of the room was open and Kim started to give chase only to pull to a quick stop. Every room in the back of the casino seemed to only open back onto the hallway, there were connecting doors to some of the rooms but none of them appeared to lead out, only back to the hallway eventually so if she were to chase Bonnie through the side doors that some of the rooms had, Bonnie would always be ahead of her and eventually would get to the hallway so she could make a run for the exit. So instead of wasting time chasing after Bonnie, Kim just slowly and quietly closed the door to the room, returned to the middle of the hallway, and watched the closed doors like a hawk. Sooner or later Bonnie would stick her head out back into the hallway to see if the coast was clear to make a run for the exit and as soon as she did, Kim was going to pounce on her like a cat on a mouse.

Hearing a door behind her click as someone started to turn the knob, Kim spun around to face it with a smile. Bonnie's luck had just run out. Or so Kim thought until the door opened.

"YOU?! What the hell are you doing here?!" Kim yelled.

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AAAA

Author's note

AAAA

One of my reviewers pointed out a very big mistake on my part on the last chapter. Ron's eyes when using the Mystical Monkey Power should glow blue, not green. Oops. Mea culpa on that one. (um that translates into my bad, at least I think that is what it means) Sorry about that.

The hall of doors. Always a classic. And I semi apologize for the cameo appearance of Shaggy from Scooby Doo. I just couldn't resist. I even toyed with the idea of having music playing from speakers in the hallway so it was even more like one of the Scooby cartoons but restrained myself with difficulty. Sometimes one needs to know when a running gag is becoming a stampede.

What? You say I didn't tell you who it was in the doorway that Kim sees? Hmm, imagine that. Guess you'll have to wait for the next chapter.


	20. Chapter 20

Partners in Crime

By Weirdbard

Chapter 20

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Kim grabbed a fist full of shirt and boldly dragged the startled person fully into the hallway from the open doorway they had come out of.

"I asked you a question." Kim growled as she shook the bald headed man.

The stunned man could only stare at her.

"Answer me Mozenberg! Are you and Bonnie working together?"

"Vhat?" The genetic scientist asked, finally finding his voice. "I know no one named Bonnie. Vhat is with you people? Can't you leave an innocent doctor alone?"

Kim wanted nothing more that to throw the man back into the room he came out of and continue her hunt for Bonnie but Mozenberg was a wanted criminal on the run from Global Justice so she couldn't do that. Turning on one heel she caught the man off guard and slammed him into the wall between the doorways and jerking his hands backwards she quickly handcuffed him.

"Innocent? You are guilty of unauthorized and highly illegal genetic experiments, aiding and abetting known criminals by treating their injuries and flight to avoid prosecution. You are far from an innocent doctor!"

Mozenberg grunted as Kim manhandled him. "Would you mind keeping your voice down? My employers here do not know of my past."

"I think they will get some idea once I haul your butt out through the main entrance of this casino." Kim hissed at him. Kim wasn't really angry at Mozenberg and under other circumstances she might even feel sympathy for him but she was still feeling rage over Bonnie's temporary escape and was taking her feelings out on Mozenberg.

Hearing a door opening, Kim kicked Mozenberg's legs apart and pushed the taller man into the wall to make sure he didn't try to escape. If the opening door proved to be Bonnie entering the hallway again Kim planned to push Mozenberg down to the floor and then give chase after Bonnie. To her disappointment but also somewhat relief, it was Agent Du that came out and not Bonnie.

"Look what I found." She called out to Du

"Is that the real Mozenberg or just another clone?" Du asked critically as he walked over to where Kim was holding the doctor captive.

Kim blinked. "That is a good question." She stated as put pressure on Mozenbergs arms.

"I am me." The man grunted in pain.

"What are you doing here?" Du asked. "Are you an accomplice of Bonnie Rockwaller's?"

"Again with this Bonnie person? I do not know anyone with the name of Bonnie. I am here because I work here."

"What could a rogue geneticist do in a casino?" Kim practically sneered. Suddenly she became pale. "The redheads that work in the casino. They are clones, aren't they?"

"Vhat? Nein, er I mean no." Mozenberg was quick to reply. "Although I could have made clones to work in the casino but that was not why I was hired or what I do here."

Du moved to take possession of the prisoner from Kim as Kim was acting highly aggressive and he feared that she might accidentally push the poor doctor through the wall, she was pressing on his back just that hard. True the doctor was a criminal on the run but Du would allow no charges of 'police brutality' while he was in charge. "Then what is it you are doing here Doctor?" He asked.

The doctor sighed in relief as Du allowed his arms that Kim had been holding up high behind his back to relax. "I merely make the hair and eyes the women use while they are working."

Kim stared at Doctor Mozenberg in horror. "You replace their eyes and hair?"

"Vhat? NO." Mozenberg explosively exhaled. "Mein Gott you have a gruesome and morbid imagination. I do not replace their hair or eyes; I simply use my skills to grow the hair and then make it into wigs for them to wear."

"And the eyes?" Du asked.

"I make contact lenses for them of course." The doctor shot a quick look at Kim Possible. "And to answer your next question, no they are not made of genetic material but made of glass, in the normal manner of contact lenses. I learned the skill while working at an optometrist office while putting myself through medical school in Germany."

Kim breathed a sigh of relief at finding out the women working in the casino weren't some kind of Frankenstein monsters but was merely what they appeared to be, working girls wearing costumes.

"How did you end up here after escaping Global Justice?" Du asked but immediately raised a hand to silence Mozenberg from answering as all three heard the sound of one of the doors slowly being eased open.

Kim spotting the door a short distance down the hallway, silently sprinted the distance and pressed herself against the wall next to the door way as the door slowly opened and covered her from view. From her position, Kim couldn't see who was coming out into the hallway but the slowness of the door opening plus the quiet way the person was moving was evidence enough of who it had to be. Peeking around the edge of the door Kim spotted Bonnie's back as the woman tried to silently tiptoe across the hallway to make it to the doors on the other side.

Bonnie hadn't spotted Du or Mozenberg in the hallway yet as Du still had Mozenberg pressed against the wall as Kim had left him, he just wasn't pressing him as tightly as she had been. Bonnie thinking the hallway was clear continued to slowly inch her way across the space. That is until she heard a loud bang as Kim slammed the door behind her. Bonnie swallowing nervously started to turn to face the person she just knew had to be directly behind her.

Kim however wasn't about to give Bonnie another chance to escape her again and before Bonnie could finish her turn, Kim kicked out with a long low sweep of her legs dumping Bonnie to the ground. Bonnie being in mid-turn fell to the ground on her side facing Kim. Staring up at the redhead, whose face was nearly as red as her hair, she barely managed to get out. "Fancy seeing you here." Before Kim hauled off and kicked her in the stomach.

Doubling over and clutching her stomach Bonnie yelled up at Kim. "Shit! That hurt! I'm going to claim Police brutality! I'm on the freaking floor here! There is no need for that!"

Kim leaned over Bonnie and smiled. "I'm not a cop. As a matter of fact I think I'll drag your ass outside to behind the casino and you can resist arrest till I've broken a few of your bones."

Bonnie swallowed nervously. She could tell Kim wasn't kidding. She had never seen the redheaded crime fighter acting in such a manner. Bonnie was suddenly afraid that Kim might just carry out her threats. "This is about the drinks I threw in your face, right?"

Kim pulled her leg back as if she was going to kick Bonnie again and the brunette automatically pulled into a ball to protect her sore stomach. Kim instead of kicking her just used her foot to roll Bonnie to lying face down. Before the woman could figure out what was happening, Kim leaped on to her back and grabbing her arms pulled them up behind her. Having already used her 'official' Global Justice handcuffs on Mozenberg, Kim pulled a zip tie used to tie up electrical cables from a pouch on her belt and pulled it tightly around Bonnie's hands restraining her.

"Oww." Bonnie yelped as the zip tie closed painfully around her wrists. Bonnie however almost stopped breathing as Kim grabbed her ponytail and pulled her head painfully back.

"This isn't about the drinks." Kim whispered into her ear causing shivers of fear to run down Bonnie's spine. "This is about that anagram trick you pulled when you booked that flight from Middletown."

"Oh." Bonnie squeaked. "You found that, did you?"

"Abbe Tone Poplins." Kim growled making sure to tug on Bonnie's hair after each part of the name. "An anagram of Bonnie Stoppable?" Kim's voice nearly sounded animal like on the last part.

"Is that what it spells?" Bonnie asked trying to act innocent. "Ouch ouch! You are cracking my spine! Stop it!" She yelled, as Kim for a moment tried to see if Bonnie's back would bend double.

Even in her anger, Kim wasn't a sadist so she eased up just a little. Oh, she was madder than hell at Bonnie but she wasn't going to risk everything just for the satisfaction of beating Bonnie nearly to death. Well…. Maybe not.

However, Kim forgot one important fact she knew and another fact she was totally unaware of. Bonnie used to be as much of a cheerleader as Kim and… Bonnie had recently been working out. As Kim relaxed her grip on Bonnie's hair allowing Bonnie to lie face down on the floor again, Bonnie flexed her legs in a gymnastic movement and caught Kim around her neck with her ankles. Straining and putting everything she had in it, Bonnie managed to throw Kim off her back with the power of her legs and back muscles. Rolling over to sit upright Bonnie struggled to her feet as a surprised Kim started to get up off the floor. Knowing her surprise move would only infuriate Kim even more; Bonnie knew she had to get away before Kim got her hands on her again.

Turning to run she found herself facing Du, who had pushed Mozenberg to the floor and was now standing in the middle of the hallway in a wide stance with his watch pointed at her.

"Oh no. Not this again." Bonnie muttered under her breath as she tried to ready herself to dodge the taser darts when they headed her way. Bonnie still had her hands firmly tied behind her back but having managed to get past Du and his darts several times she was feeling somewhat optimistic about it.

"Don't!" Kim's voice growled from behind Bonnie reminding Bonnie again where the real danger was going to come from.

"What?" Du yelled out without lowering his arm.

"Every time you fire those damn darts I'm the one that usually get's hit!" Kim yelled back. "Bonnie has her hands tied behind her back. She has no allies in this casino and she can't even open one of the doors any more. She's not going anywhere. Keep an eye on Mozenberg and I'll take care of Bonnie."

Bonnie could hear the cracking of knuckles at the end of Kim's speech and once again, she swallowed nervously as she turned to face Kim. "This isn't exactly a fair fight." Bonnie pointed out as she turned and backed up till she was against the wall as Kim strode towards her.

"This isn't a fight Bonnie. This is a capture of a dangerous and wanted criminal." Kim smiled as she continued to crack her knuckles as she neared.

Bonnie screwed up her face as Kim reached her and pulled her fist back. Whether Kim was really going to hit Bonnie or not would never be known as both women stopped when they heard the soft ping sound an elevator makes when it reaches a floor. Everyone in the hallway including Mozenberg sitting on the floor looked around. It was Bonnie herself that spotted a door slowly opening a distance down the hallway and behind Kim.

A blond with her hair in pigtails and wearing a dark coat came backing out into the hallway. As she came fully into the hallway, it could be seen she was pulling a large metal cart on caster wheels. Humming a tune the woman didn't even glance back down the hallway towards Kim and company but pushed the cart towards the entrance to the casino. Almost immediately behind her came another woman, this one a redhead wearing green pulling another cart. She too didn't glance in their direction but followed after the first one.

Kim lowering her fist in shock looked at Bonnie and then glanced over to where Du and Mozenberg were. Before anyone could speak a third person came out of the elevator pulling a cart. This was a woman wearing dark clothing with black hair and right on her heels was a man wearing a very expensive suit with black hair. Finally, another man came out of the elevator and while he was dressed in a suit just as fine as the first man was, he had messy blond hair. Messy blond hair both Kim and Bonnie recognized immediately. And if there had been any doubt at all, there was also the fact that a certain naked mole rat was riding on his shoulder.

"I can't believe how smoothly this job is going off." Drakken replied to Shego.

"Well don't get too comfortable." Shego warned him. "Rufus may have trapped the guards in their security center and disabled the phones and alarms but they'll get out sooner or later."

"You worry too much Shego. This is one time when…."

It was at this point that Rufus, out of all of them coming out of the elevator, decided to glance down the hallway towards Kim and her group. "Uh oh." Rufus squeaked. Tugging on his master's ear, he tried to get Ron to look that way. "Kim! Kim!" Rufus squealed.

"Yes, yes." Drakken answered the squeak. "I was going to say this is one time when Kim Possible will not stop me!"

"Us!" Harley in anger that he was trying to take credit for the heist again turned to chew him out and spotted Kim holding Bonnie against a wall of the hallway behind them. "Um, guys? We've got company!" She sang out.

Ron turning to look at where Harley was pointing and Rufus was about to pull his ear off to get him to look and spotted Kim.

"Kim?" Ron said and silently cursed himself for the way his voice sounded so wanting.

"Ron?" A shocked Kim called back.

Shego turned, her hands already flaring into flames. "Princess." She practically snarled.

Drakken spinning around nearly fell. "Kim Possible? Oh come on! Seriously?" He turned to glare at Shego. "See? I told you it wasn't my planning that was the reason she always shows up! He made the plans this time and she still is here!"

Kim's eyes darted to look at Drakken. "Drakken." She said coldly.

"Um excuse me. It is Doctor Drakken if you will."

This caused Mozenberg to snort loudly drawing attention to where he was sitting on the floor. "Please. What medical school did you ever graduate from?"

"Mozenberg?" Shego asked in surprise at seeing her long time semi-friend.

"Mozenberg?" Drakken glared at the man.

"Excuse me." Mozenberg said in a whinny nasally voice obviously imitating Drakken. "Unlike some I did go to medical school and graduated. So call me Doctor Mozenberg if you please."

"Well I don't please." Drakken sneered. "Just because you have a degree doesn't make you a doctor in my opinion. How many lives have you saved?"

"Dozens." Mozenberg replied lifting his head and sneering right back at Drakken.

"Drakken." Shego growled in warning. They didn't have time for an ego pissing contest right now. Leave those two arguing much longer and she didn't doubt they would be pulling down their trousers to compare lengths… And Shego didn't want Drakken that humiliated.

"Shego." Kim growled again and stepping back from Bonnie stared at her arch nemesis.

Ron finally making out whom Kim was holding against the wall blinked in shock. "Bonnie?"

"Master!" Bonnie cried happily at seeing Ron and having him call her name.

"Master?!" Kim, Du, Mozenberg, and Drakken asked at the same time as they stared at the woman.

"Um jinx, someone owes somebody a lot of cokes?" Bonnie stated nervously as she watched Kim turn to glare at her in hatred again.

Kim was torn. She was having a really bad day and someone was going to pay for it. She couldn't make up her mind if she wanted to pummel Bonnie or Shego first. Shego had stolen Ron from her but if what Monique had told her was true, Bonnie had stolen him from her before Shego had and now she was calling Ron, her Ron, Master as if he was some perverted S&M king. Whom to beat the daylights out of first? Kim wondered to herself.

Hearing doors in front of them them opening, Harley and Ivy turned to look and spotted two guys dressed in Global Justice gear come out. The agents were between them and the entrance to the casino effectively trapping Ron and his group between them and Kim.

"Where the hell have you two been?" Du yelled over to them.

"We were checking on a lead, looking for that Bonnie person." Agent Swanson yelled back.

"They came out of the doorway that leads to the women's dressing rooms." Mozenberg supplied. "I'm sure they gave that a thorough investigation."

Brickle and Swanson glanced at each other from the corner of their eyes. A moment later, the door they had just came out of opened again and about six redheaded women dressed in casino costumes came out and glared at the two men. Ignoring everyone else in the hallway, the redheads walked the short distance to the entrance of the casino and exited the hallways. One of them muttered out loud in the direction of the two agents. "Perverts."

"Gee." Harley suddenly said loudly drawing everyone's attention back to her. "These large reunions sure are fun but we really need to… RUN!" And tugging on the metal cart Harley made it to a door and jerking it open she pulled her and the cart into it. Ivy was a step behind with her cart and entered the room as well. Shego watched for a split second before grabbing Ron and throwing him on top of the cart she was pulling she too made for the door.

"Freeze Shego!" Kim yelled and forgetting about Bonnie she started pumping her arms at her sides to race the distance and get to Shego before she could escape with her Ron.

Drakken being surprised, watched as Shego rescued Ron instead of him for a change, before noticing that two Global agents, not to mention Kim Possible were about to be within springing distance of him. With a yelp, he too raced over to the door and leapt into the room.

Kim hearing running footsteps next to her thought that agent Du had joined her until she glanced over and spotted Bonnie, her hands still tied behind her running right alongside her. Before Kim could react or say anything Bonnie slammed into her side causing Kim to trip and fall to the ground. An off balance Bonnie wobbled a bit in her run but still managed to make it to the door, a door which was now closed. Hauling off, Bonnie kicked desperately at the door. "Master?!" She screamed. "It's me! Your little Bon Bon! Don't leave me behind again. PLEASE! You have to save me! Kim has gone nuts!"

Bonnie was just about to break down and start sobbing when the door pushed open. Instead of her Ron however it was Harley that was looking at her. "Well come on girl! Get in here!" Harley shouted at her before grabbing the front of Bonnie's blouse and boldly pulling her into the room. The door once again swung shut.

Just as Kim and the agents Swanson and Brickle arrived at the door a lurid bright green glow appeared around the edges of the shut door. Kim reaching out grabbed the handle of the door but then with a stream of curses she released it and leapt back holding her hand.

"That fucking green bitch welded it shut with her powers!" Kim cursed shocking everyone in the hallway. Even Mozenberg who knew Kim hardly at all could tell she didn't usually curse like that.

"Agent Possible!" Du's voice yelled out. "Calm down. Our adversaries haven't escaped. We still control the hallway and now in addition to even more people to get out, they have those huge metal carts to try to escape with. They are ours." To Swanson and Brickle, Du ordered. "Contact Global Justice and tell Dr. Director what is going on and to have every available Las Vegas agents here within the hour.

Ron stared at the sealed door leading to the hallway. The hallway that contained Kim.

Shego smiled at her work. The door was welded shut. It would take them at least 30 minutes to batter that door down and get in here. Of course, there were two other doors to this room and she had to get her and her group moving, out of this room before Kim realized that, and tried to outflank them. Turning she spotted Ron staring at the door.

"_Damn it. Why did Kim have to be here?" _Shego silently cursed in her mind. Ron was reeling from seeing his ex-girlfriend it was obvious to everyone.

"Ron we need to get out of here." Shego called out to get his attention.

Ron shook his head to clear his mind. "Right." He said and then looked to the naked mole rat on his shoulder. "On your way in, did you see anything that can help us Rufus?"

"We are depending on that pink thing to help us to escape?" Drakken sneered.

Rufus blew a raspberry in Drakken's direction before rapidly squeaking something to Ron.

"What did he say?" Harley asked as she walked over to stand next to Ron. Beside her, a struggling still with hands tied behind her back Bonnie waited for her Master to address her.

Ron shook his head. "Rufus says the air vents in this place are too small for humans to make use of."

"We couldn't use them anyway." Ivy stated. "We could never get the carts through them."

"We may have to abandon the carts." Ron stated.

"Ronnie! We can't!" Harley nearly cried. "We've got over 34 million dollars in unmarked bills here! I've never…" Harley glanced over at Ivy. "No villain in all of Gotham ever made a haul like this! We can't just leave it behind!"

"What's more important?" Ron asked walking to one of the other two doors to the room and on finding a supply closet, he turned and ran over to the other door, the one leading away from the entrance to the casino and opening it, he peered into the room beyond. "Our freedom or money?" Not hearing an immediate answer, he glanced back at Harley.

"I'm thinking. I'm thinking." Harley replied as she folded her arms across her chest and pouted.

Ron frowned at her.

"But just think Ronnie. If we leave this money behind… No starving kids get helped." Harley stated.

Ron turned to fully glare at her. "That was cold Quinn." He stated in a frosty voice and then sighed. "But effective. Okay, we can't leave the money behind. We worked too hard to get it."

"So what do we do?" Ivy asked.

"There were four Global Justice agents in the hallway and I got the distinct impression no more with them." Ron seemed to reach a decision. "It's time we stopped running. I'll sneak out through the maze of rooms, come up behind the agents, and take them out one by one and then we'll make our escape. Shego you stay here to protect everyone in case they manage to get into this room."

Shego held up a hand to stop him. "HELL NO." She said carefully annunciating every word. "You think I'm letting you get close to Kim without me with you, you've got another thought coming."

"Shego. I am going to get us out of here. Not rejoin my old girlfriend!" Ron in annoyance said.

"Still not happening. You go, I go." Shego said folding her arms defiantly across her chest.

"I thought her name was Shego." Bonnie said but quietly.

Ron looked at Shego for a moment before nodding his head. He wouldn't admit it to Shego or the others but he couldn't deny the tiny catch he felt in his chest when he saw Kim again. He knew if it came down to an actual fight, he would never be able to bring himself to actually try and hit, let alone incapacitate Kim. "Okay, me and Shego are going to clear the field for us. Harley, Ivy? Watch over the group and we'll be back in a few moments."

Bonnie, her hands still tied behind her tried to race to Ron's side but was stopped by Ivy. "Easy girl. He'll be back."

Bonnie shot her a glare but then remembering she was trying to gain Ron's other slaves' favor so he would accept her, she nodded and lowered her head so as not to stare into Ivy's eyes in what might be considered a challenge. Ron spared her a glance and wondered to himself how the hell Bonnie had gotten to Vegas and how she had become involved but then just shrugged. He would find time later to ask her. Picking up Rufus from his shoulder he carefully sat him down on Bonnie's shoulder. "Look after her until I get back okay buddy?"

Rufus frowned and folded his arms across his tiny chest annoyed that he was being left out of the action again but then nodded his head and reluctantly flashed Ron a thumbs up gesture before frowning at Bonnie.

As Ron and Shego ran through the door leading to the next room, Ron nodded at the door leading back into the hallway of that room. Shego without a word and without slowing their pace threw a green fireball at the door wielding it instantly shut as well.

Nonstop the two ran through three more rooms, all obviously private meeting rooms used by the casino for high stakes poker, and possibly other less legal activities, until they reached a room that was not connected by inner doors with any other room. Shego had sealed the other three rooms' doors leading to the outside hallway but now they were stuck. If they were to leave this room, they had to use the door leading to the hallway or go back the way they came.

Kim stood clutching her slightly scorched hand for a moment and was thankful that part of her mission gear included sturdy black gloves. Racing to the door closer to the entrance to the casino she jerked it open to find… The bathroom again.

"Okay, not this way then… So they would have to go…." Kim muttered to herself as she ran past Du and the other agents still standing at the wielded door to the next one in the other direction. Reaching out Kim grabbed the handle to jerk the door open. Only to promptly release it with another curse as her glove started to smoke. Looking at the top edge of the door Kim could see the tell tale seam of molten metal showing Shego had beaten her to the door and sealed that one too.

Racing to the next door, she reached for the handle but then paused. Reaching out a single finger tip she touched the metal door and pulled her hand away as a sizzle was heard and the glove smoked.

By this time she had been joined by Du and the other two agents. "Quick try the other doors! They can't seal them all! They would just be trapping themselves inside."

Brickle and Swanson ran to the next door in line and slowly brought their hands near the door but not touching it. Feeling heat radiating off the door they pulled their hands back. "Got a hot one here too." Brickle yelled out.

Du racing past them stood in front of the next door and slowly reached out a hand…

And was instantly clobbered as the door suddenly slammed open into his face knocking him back to where Brickle and Swanson were standing, who caught him as he was falling. Blood was streaming down his face from a nose bleed caused by the door colliding with his face. Du blinked twice and then slumped in Swanson and Brickle's arms as he passed out.

Shego came barreling out of the room she had just kicked open the door to, with Ron right at her heels. As she started to cross the hallway, she threw several green plasma fireballs in Kim and the other agents' directions. The two Global Justice agents dropped Du, allowing his head to bang rather painfully looking against the floor as they dove for cover. Kim instead of running away from the oncoming fireball slid low under it and kept charging in Shego and Ron's direction.

Crossing the hallway Ron and Shego headed for the door directly across from the one they came out of and Ron spotted sitting on the floor, just starting to rise to his feet Dr. Mozenberg. As Shego grabbed the handle of the door, Ron reached out and boldly pulled the man to his feet and behind him so as the door slamming open wouldn't hit him. As Shego ran in and Ron followed her, he forgot and just kept ahold of Mozenberg and dragged him in with them.

"Vait! Vhere are we going to?" Mozenberg just managed to get out before the door slammed shut. Kim reached the door a moment later but just as she was about to touch the door it glowed green from the other side and the handle started to sag as it was melted by Shego sealing yet another door in Kim's face.

Looking over at the two Global Justice agents, she hissed at them. "Get your asses over here. You…" She said pointing at Brickle. "Take the door to the left of this one. You…" She said pointing at Swanson. "Take the door to the right!"

The two men quick to avoid the infuriated redhead's wrath nodded their heads and racing over they quickly opened the doors and dove inside. Kim standing out in the hall heard several oomfs, ouch and grunts and then was all was quiet but only for a moment. "You are down three sidekicks Princess!" Shego's voice called out from the door to the right. "Give it up. You are outnumbered, outclassed and out maneuvered."

Kim race to that door but before she opened it she yelled at it. "From where I'm standing you are the one that has outmaneuvered yourself Shego. You have sealed too many doors. Sooner or later you are going to have to face me and when you do, I'm going to take you apart!" Kim then threw the door open wide…And promptly had to leap sideways to avoid the green fireball that came flying out of the room and nearly hit her.

Growling in rage Kim leapt into the room before Shego could throw another one and the door slowly swung shut on its own. A moment later the door Brickle had entered slowly opened and Mozenberg stuck his head out and looked up and down the hallway. Spotting no one, he glanced back into the room and nodded for Ron to come out. Mozenberg now had his hands free, thanks to Shego and her plasma powers, she had thoughtfully melted the links between the handcuffs freeing him. As Ron began to cross the hallway, Mozenberg ducked back into the room they had just exited.

Ron ran across to the first door Harley had picked when they escaped from Kim. As he passed where Du was lying, the man gave a low groan and started to slowly sit up. Ron without so much as a glance bopped the man on the head as he sat up, causing Du to once again slump over.

As Ron reached the door to the room Harley and the rest waited, Dr. Mozenberg came out of the room he and Ron had been in and started pushing his M.A.N.T.I.S machine in its compact traveling form down the hallway. "Thank you for allowing me to go to my office to recover mine machine." Mozenberg said to Ron and then clicking his heels in a type of salute, he then turned and with his machine went towards the entrance to the casino.

Ron briefly nodded at him and then turned to the door in front of him, his eyes glowing blue he grabbed the now cool handle to the door and savagely tugged on it. With a loud screech of metal, the door ripped out of its frame taking bits and pieces of the wall with it.

Inside the room, Harley and Ivy crouched in front of the money carts as if they were going to defend them with their lives while Drakken hid behind the third one. Bonnie having dove behind the poker table in the room when she heard the screech of metal as the door gave way peeked over the edge of it and nearly squealed with joy when she saw her master had returned for her, er them. Rufus sitting on her shoulder waved at Ron.

"Quick, it's time to leave." Ron shouted and then left the doorway to keep an eye on the hallway.

Harley and Ivy immediately started tugging on the metal carts to get them into motion while Drakken looked around for someone else to move the one he was standing behind, finally he realized that Shego wasn't with him and he might have to do a bit of manual labor himself. He started to fold his arms across his chest and angrily demand someone else to do it until he realized that the manual labor in question was pushing a cart containing approximately eleven million dollars in it. Suddenly the manual labor didn't seem so onerous. With a large smile, Drakken put his shoulder against the cart and with a grunt threw all his weight against it… And the cart didn't budge an inch. Eleven million dollars is kind of heavy and the cart's wheels didn't roll as freely as they could.

"You girl. Help me." He shouted at Bonnie.

Bonnie wanted to get in good terms with Ron's other slaves. She didn't know the idiot shouting at her was and she had about decided he was one of Ron's hired henchmen but since this was some kind of heist obviously planned and carried out by Ron she didn't mind helping but she had one small problem and since it wasn't one of Ron's slaves ordering her she decided to be more like her old self and point it out to the man without deference.

"Hello? I've got my damn arms tied behind me idiot! How do you expect me to help you?"

Drakken pushing with all his might so as not to be left behind grunted. "Put your shoulder into it if nothing else." Sure, it would have been easier to just untie the woman but Drakken was more of a mastermind of crime and not much at the practice of it. In other words, he was scared senseless he was going to get caught and without Shego there to protect him, he was nearly panicking.

Bonnie rolled her eyes but placing a shoulder against the cart she pushed with him and the cart slowly started to move.

Ron watched as first Harley and then Ivy exited the room into the hallway and slowly made their way towards the entrance to the casino door. As Drakken and Bonnie came out of the room, Bonnie paused in her pushing to stop and stare at Ron worshipfully and Drakken without her aid ground to a stop.

"Bonnie? What are you doing here?" Ron asked and Bonnie felt a tiny bit disappointed he didn't use his pet name for her. "And why are your arms tied behind you?" Ron asked turning Bonnie to try and untie her. He was stopped however as a loud bang was heard down the hallway and as everyone looked up they spotted Shego getting hurled through a doorway to crash into the hallway, a moment later Kim stomped out of the doorway to stare at the fallen dark haired woman.

Kim's mission gear clothing was nearly ripped off her body. Scrapes and scratches were visible everywhere and on a spot where Kim's bare shoulder was visible was an angry burn mark. Looking towards Shego the group could see hadn't fared much better. Her dark coat had been lost somewhere in the fight and a rip right over her left breast nearly exposed her to view. The dark stockings Shego had on her legs were torn and ripped in places and bruises were visible all over her body.

It was apparent that this catfight had been fiercer than any or all of the previous times Kim and Shego had fought together. As Kim strode towards Shego she spotted a fire ax hanging on a wall between two of the ubiquitous doors, changing directions Kim ripped the ax off the wall and stood over Shego.

"This ends here and now Shego. I keep taking you in, you keep getting out, and I'm sick of it. This time you stole something precious from me personally and for that you don't walk away!" Kim raised the ax over her head and it was obvious she fully planned on bringing it down on the fallen woman.

Bonnie couldn't understand it but one moment Ron was at her side about to untie her and the next he was down the hallway standing protectively over Shego's body and catching the downward coming ax by its handle.

"Are you out of your mind Kim!" He shouted into the startled redhead's face. "You don't kill! And you don't continue to beat on someone after they are down!"

"Ron?" Kim asked as she blinked. Suddenly she released her grip on the ax handle, wrapped her arms around Ron's waist, and clung to him desperately. "God I've missed you Ron! I need you!"

Ron seeing his lifelong friend nearly kill the woman he loved he stood stock still in shock, still holding the ax underneath its head by its handle.

"Kim." He stated once again but this time softer. With a sigh, Ron hurled the ax leaving it sticking in the door across the hallway and lowered his arms to hold Kim to him for a moment, but then gently pushed her away. "This can't work Kim and you know it…."

"I've gotten help Ron. I'm seeing a professional psychiatrist. He's made me realize that all these years I ignored and neglected you. Come back with me Ron. Things will be different this time!" Kim desperately explained to him.

Ron almost against his will took Kim in his arms and hugged her tightly but then once again he gently pushed her back. "I can't Kim. I've realized a few things too."

"It's because of her, isn't it?!" Kim growled looking down at the still dazed Shego.

"She's a large part of it, yes." Ron admitted honestly. "But she's not the whole reason. I'm a criminal now Kim." He raised a hand to stop Kim when it was obvious she was about to argue with him.

"And I've realized there are things I can do as a criminal that I can't do as a Global Justice agent. Things we always wanted and talked about doing Kim. I can make a real difference in this world and take steps to heal it instead of just slapping a band-aid on it."

"You mean like I do?" Kim replied in annoyance.

Ron looked down at Shego to see her staring up at him, before looking at Kim again. "You… Could…Come with us?" He asked almost hopefully.

"And be a criminal too?" Kim asked before violently shaking her head. "No Ron. No matter what 'good' you think you can do by breaking the law, it just doesn't work that way. Laws are there for a reason. You've allowed your thinking to become muddled by these…" Kim sneered at Shego and then down the hallway at the rest of the group. "Women. You aren't thinking with your brain but with other parts of your anatomy and if you would just listen to me and come back with me I'm sure I can get a reduced sentence for you!"

Ron shook his head. "Kim it's not that simple…"

"Ron!" Kim barked at him. "You are being foolish as usual! Now get over here by my side before I have to knock some sense into you! You know I'm always right!"

Kim for a long time afterward would regret her choice of words as Ron's face grew stern and cold looking. "Not this time… Possible. Not ever again." Ron reached out with one hand and Kim thought for just a split second that he was going to take her in his arms again before she noticed his eyes were glowing blue. She barely had a chance to brace herself as a blue ball of energy shot out of Ron's hand and hitting her in the chest hurled her down the hallway as if she was a mere feather in the wind. Ron stooped down and gathered Shego up in his arms and turning he ran back to where his group waited.

"Haven't you gotten that door open yet?" He nearly growled as he reached them.

Harley spun on her heel and grabbing the handle, she turned the knob and pushed it open to reveal the sights and sounds of the casino beyond.

Ron gently placed Shego on top of the money cart Drakken was pushing and with one hand, his eyes still glowing blue, he pushed it easily out the doorway behind Harley and Ivy. Drakken and a still tied Bonnie followed behind him, careful to stay out of his way. Drakken because he was slightly fearful of the serious face Ron was wearing and the apparent ease he had blowing Kim Possible down the hallway, while Bonnie tried to act the proper slave and not hinder her master in any way.

As the group cleared the doorway, they found Mozenberg standing a short distance inside the casino with his machine.

"I would have thought you would have been long gone by now Mozenberg." Shego said as she sat up on the cart Ron was pushing.

"Vell…. I would have except these gentlemen won't let me." Mozenberg said nodding.

The casino having been named in an allusion to Ireland had green plants everywhere. Since the idea was to reference the 'Emerald Island' but not recreate it perfectly not all the plants were native to Ireland, some of them came from the Amazon. Anything as long as it was green, lush… And living. The owner of the casino hated plastic plants and so even though it cost him a small fortune every month, all the plants were real and in pots. From behind these potted plants stepped dozens of individuals. Some of them were wearing Las Vegas Police uniforms and others were wearing Global Justice but the end result was the same. Ron and his group were fully surrounded.

The group blinked at the large mass of law enforcement officials in front of them.

"Hmm." Ron mused out loud. "So many cops? You guys here for a PARTY?" He said emphasizing the word party. "Or maybe you all just like the GREENERY in this place?"

Bonnie standing next to a quaking Drakken noticed Harley and Ivy glancing at one another and then slightly smiling.

Harley leaned her head back and putting her arms out she acted like she was stretching. Immediately the police and Global Justice turned their guns and tazers in her direction.

"Don't move!" Someone in the legal group shouted.

"Get your hands up!" Several others shouted.

Ivy gave her best sultry smile. "Well which is it boys? Don't move or get your hands up?"

"Get your hands up!" Several shouted again.

Ivy and Harley once again glanced at each other out of the corner of their eyes. "Okay." Ivy said. And flinging her arms skywards, she released handfuls of glass marbles into the air. At the same time, Harley threw her hands up in the air and several loud pops were heard. Confetti and streamers started to gently drift down from where Harley had thrown them and the marble like objects with a hiss that couldn't be heard in the crowded casino released their gas.

The cops stared in confusion at the brightly colored streamers drifting their way. One of the leading cops went so far as to holster his weapon and held out a hand as the streamer neared him.

The seemingly innocent colorful paper streamer touched the man's hand… And instantly wound tightly around it going down his arm like a python snake. The man in panic of course reached over with his other hand to pull the streamer off and as soon as his second hand neared his snared first, the streamer leapt the distance and entangled that hand as well. In moments, the man looked like a brightly covered mummy as he struggled to free himself as he fell over.

Several more police and Global Justice agents became ensnared as they didn't move fast enough to prevent the streamers from touching them.

"Mein Gott." Mozenberg muttered in shock as Harley reached out and pulled him closer to her group to keep him from getting tangled up as well. "Where did you get those things?"

"It's a little something Mr. J. taught me how to make." Harley replied with a smirk.

The streamers while effective to those that blundered into them were not nearly enough to distract or capture all of the police facing them.

Several careful of their fallen comrades that struggled with the streamers, stepped over them and leveled their guns once again at the group.

Ivy continued to smile before saying loudly. "Wake up babies. It's Spring time."

Several officers looked at each other and wondered what was wrong with the redhead but not for long as suddenly, everyone found themselves in a green Hell as plants burst into life all around them. People were swallowed up into bushes that moments ago were cute little plants in ornate pots. Vines suddenly dropped down from the ceiling planters and entwined around people and dragged them upwards. Flowers in hanging pots suddenly grew to ridiculous lengths and choked people as they wrapped around them to press their flowers into the officers' faces making their eyes stream from allergies and pollen.

As the cops had their guns forcibly removed by plant vines while they wheezed, coughed and sneezed from hay fever, Ron and his group pushed their carts right past them. Global Justice and the police had cleared most of the casino from guests and employees so once Ron and his group got past the division of cops, it was smooth sailing to the casino's main doors as plants continued to grow behind them in a riotous burst.

Harley and Ivy turned as they were about to leave and blew kisses towards the still entangled cops. "Bye boys." Ivy said. "Have fun playing with the flowers and plants."

"Yeah…It's been a real celebration. We'll have to do this again someday." Harley added.

"Please don't taunt the police." Ron told them.

"Why? You think they can get free?" Harley asked.

"No. It's just tacky."

Getting outside, Ron and his group quickly made their way to the side of the casino where the invisible hover sled waited.

"Okay Drakken, Shego. You take the first money cart up to our hover craft and then Drakken can bring the sled back down for another load. Make it fast."

Shego drew Ron to the side. "Why me and Drakken first? And why send him down with the sled? The way he flies he is liable to just wreck it." She asked him.

"Because I want you up their first because I trust you. And I want you to send Drakken back because I don't trust him. Leave him up there with one of the money carts and he may decide it is safer to bug out without us with one money cart rather than risk being caught."

Shego nodded her head. "Okay but why not Harley or Ivy with him? You don't trust them?"

"Oh I trust them just fine. But they don't know the controls of the hover sled that well. Only you and Drakken do."

Shego nodded her head but then slumped a little.

"You okay?" Ron asked her suddenly worried about her.

"Fine. Kimmie just put up a bit more of a fight this time than she usually manages." Shego glanced sideways at Ron. "Do you think if you hadn't stopped her she would have really buried that ax in my skull?'

Ron shook his head. "Of course not. Kim doesn't kill people. It would violate everything she stands for. I think she just wanted to scare you."

Shego nodded but privately she had her doubts. She had been there for her fight with Kim when Ron had not and heard the things Kim had said to her and more importantly, she had an up close view of Kim's eyes as she raised that ax. Princess was really going to kill her and Shego not only knew it but also knew why. And the why was the blond haired man next to her. And that fact didn't bother Shego in the least because Shego was also willing to kill to keep Ron with her.

Kim picked herself up off the floor where she had been lying and shook her head in disbelief. Ron had used his mystical monkey powers on her! Sure he had hit her twice before but each time he had been under some kind of control, this time Kim knew Ron was in complete control of his mind and he had used his powers on her! Powers he always claimed that while he was with her he couldn't control that well. And what made it even worse to Kim was he used his powers on her to protect Shego.

Kim's practical side demanded that she forget everything that her and Ron had meant to one another and firmly place him forever in the villain category and do her duty as a righteous and law abiding individual and bring him to justice no matter what it might take. However, the larger part of Kim's heart and soul demanded that she rescue Ron, even if it was from himself and return him to the way he had been before, to the time when he called her KP and was always at her side.

Pausing only a moment to check on Du and make sure there was nothing worse wrong with him than just being unconscious, Kim ran to the door to the entrance to the casino. As soon as she stepped into the madness of the casino and saw the weaving plant vines and thrashing greenery, Kim turned and ran back into the maintenance corridor, but only to grab the ax buried in the door where Ron had thrown it. Then with a determined look on her face, she raced back into the casino wildly swinging the ax at any plants that dared to try and ensnare her.

"Oh so not happening this time!" Kim snarled as a plant vine descended from above and tried to wrap around her. Imagining it was the smirking green face of Shego, she swung the ax and severed the vine with one clean swipe.

Finally with a savage yell of triumphant, Kim hacked her way through the plant life to reach the main entrance/exit of the casino and burst out into the bright Las Vegas afternoon sunlight. Passersby on the sidewalk turned to stare in shock as a woman with streaming red hair flowing out behind her with her clothes ripped and torn and holding an ax dripping green plant juices came out of a casino in front of which were various police cars parked. They could be excused if some of them thought she must be some ax murderer that had just hacked her way through a salad bar.

"Which way did they go?" Kim growled causing those gawking to quickly rush away from her. Hearing a large crowd muttering, Kim still carrying the ax rushed around the corner of the casino to see a large group of tourists pointing up at the sky. Glancing upwards Kim saw what looked like the top of a large refrigerator or something akin to one floating upwards. Blinking against the bright sunshine Kim finally realized what she was seeing was the top part of Dr. Mozenberg's compressed MANTIS machine. A moment's thought later and Kim realized that the machine must be resting on some kind of cloaked hover sled and the top of the machine must have extended past the cloaking field thusly making it visible.

Racing in the direction the hover sled must have launched from Kim saw a stand of trees around a small fountain and as she neared the location, she could hear Ron's voice talking. "Yeah I know Rufus. I don't like waiting around here either but we couldn't get on the sled with Mozenberg, Shego and his machine. There just wasn't room for us and I doubt that sled could handle the extra weight anyway. It was straining with just the carts and then Mozenberg's machine." Kim could hear Rufus say something but she couldn't catch it.

"Yeah that machine gives me the creeps too. You should try sitting in it."

This time Kim could plainly hear Rufus's, "No way." Letting her know Ron was just around the next tree.

"We'll be fine as long as…" Ron was saying as Kim rounded the tree and spotted Ron's back. Rufus was standing on his shoulder and glanced back at her as she came around the tree.

"KIM!" Rufus squeaked.

"Ron's shoulders slumped. "She's right behind me, isn't she?" He asked Rufus without turning. Rufus vigorously nodded his head. "And I bet she is pissed." Ron added.

"Oh yeah." Rufus agreed.

Ron slowly turned to face a heavy breathing Kim clutching a dripping ax. He raised his eyebrow seeing the ax in her hands. "Hey…KP." He finally said. "I hope the ax isn't for me?"

"KP now is it? A short time ago, it was Possible. Gee, I wonder what has changed?" Kim mocked considered and then made a great show of looking around. "Oh I know. Shego isn't here now is she?"

Ron glanced skyward.

"They aren't coming back for you Ron. You are so naïve. They have the money and they have the equipment. They are long gone."

"No Kim, you're wrong. Shego will come back for me."

Kim felt a surge of anger. "Dammit Ron! You don't belong with her! You belong with me!"

Ron glanced back at her and sighed. "We've been through this Kim. Too many things have changed."

"Nothing's changed! I still need you!"

"It's not about you any more Kim. It's about what I need, what I want!" Ron said but instead of sounding angry or annoyed, he sounded desperate. Desperate to get Kim to understand what he wanted to accomplish in the world, why he had to see what he started through.

Kim lowered the ax and started inching towards Ron as he once again glanced upwards. "Just tell me one thing Ron. Do you still love me?"

Ron glanced over at her sharply.

"Tell me you no longer care. Tell me whatever you once felt for me is gone and I will…" Kim faltered.

"What? Let me go?" Ron asked with a trace of dark humor. "You are Kim Possible. You could no more let a criminal walk away than I can stop lov…" Now it was Ron's turn to falter.

"You were going to say stop loving me, weren't you?" Kim asked with a trace of hope in her eyes.

Once again, Ron sighed. "It doesn't matter. Like I said too much has changed."

Kim dropped the ax and prepared to make a desperate grab for Ron. Even with what she had said, she fully expected Shego to return for Ron at any moment but Kim knew if she could just get Ron under control, she could keep him from leaving her. Just as Kim readied herself for the leap to tackle Ron, a whistling noise of something spinning through the air was heard and suddenly a metal chain wrapped around Kim pulling her and trapping her to the side of the tree. Both Ron and Kim looked around in shock but could see no one near them.

The chain had a heavy weight on one end and had wrapped tightly around Kim and the tree but Kim was already wiggling and struggling to free herself. Kim almost thought Ron was going to help her when they both heard a low thrumming like noise and suddenly Shego's upper body and arm appeared out of thin air about three feet above them.

"Quick Ron! Leap for it!" Shego cried out.

Ron paused only a moment to glance at the struggling Kim before leaping into the air to grab Shego's hand and was pulled onto the hover sled and disappeared from Kim's sight. The low thrumming noise of the hover sled's propulsion slowly started to fade away and Kim's shoulders sagged as she knew Ron was gone. But Kim's desolation only lasted a moment before rage at losing over took her and with a mighty shrug, she gained enough slack to shrug out of the chain holding her to the tree. Pulling her grappling gun, she pointed skyward in the direction she knew the hover sled must be and pulled the trigger.

The grappling hook flew up and for a moment Kim thought she must have misjudged the sled's rate of climb and it had risen higher than she had thought it had before the hook suddenly caught on something invisible and the slack in the cable grew taunt and Kim started to rise in the air.

"It's not over yet Ron." Kim said with a smile on her face as she triggered the gun to start pulling her towards the hook. That is until something whistled through the air and the cable severed dumping Kim to the ground. Kim in shock lying on her back looking skyward saw a dark shape leap from the tree she had been tied to a moment ago and darting upward grabbed the severed end of her grappling hook cable and swiftly climbed upward until it was lost in the invisibility field of the hover sled.

"What the hell?" Kim growled to herself as she picked herself up from the manicured lawn of the casino grounds. A brief search among the bushes finally located the object that had cut her cord, and her chances to regain Ron once again. A Japanese throwing star.

Her scream of rage and frustration lead a now conscious Du, Brickle and Swanson to her location and also let him know that she had failed to stop the criminals… Once again.

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Author's notes:

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Whew! That was a tough one to write and I think it still lacks a certain sort of polish to it but I don't like to hold on to chapters too long after writing them before I post them. (One of the reasons mistakes and typos make it through I know but on my original fiction Upheaval series I have once gone 6 months before posting trying to make it perfect. And then typos still made it past me so what are you going to do?)

On some private messages, I've been receiving from some of my readers. I decided to answer here publically because many of them are variations of a theme. That being people asking me if they can take some of my story ideas and use them in their stories. Of course, you can. I feel honored that I've inspired others or that they like the ideas I've used so much they want to use them as well. You may even use characters I've 'created' such as Agent Gloria Passion in my other KP series. All I ask is you try to keep descriptions of my characters and actions fairly close to what I said they were like.

I've never been a kind of Daffy Duck like person standing over my writings going, "Mine! Mine! Mine! Go away!" And considering this is fanfiction in the first place it would be kind of absurd for me to say you can't use my characters or ideas, when I'm using Disney's characters and plot lines. Just don't expect me to alter or change my story lines to fit whatever you want to do.

In the end, it is not the storyteller that is important. It's the story.


	21. Chapter 21

Partners in Crime

By Weirdbard

Chapter 21

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Author's note:

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Okay even though this is in the mature section, I feel I should point out that this is an adult oriented tale. I tend to not be overly explicit but there is a man, a very lucky man I might add, that has a harem going on so acts between consenting adults, both male/female as well as female/female are going on so it should not catch you off guard.

In this chapter, Bonnie finds out if she is going to be allowed to stay and if so what her new position in the group will be. I don't think she is going to mind the new positions all that much though.

On with the story:

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The hover sled flickered into visibility as Shego shut down its cloaking device as she brought it into the cloaked main hover craft and brought the sled in for a light as a feather landing. No one noticed a shadow detach from underneath the hover sled right before its landing and quickly duck out the open hold door and up to the roof of the hover craft.

"Get us out of here and lay in a course for home and keep us as low to the ground as you can without drawing attention to our cloaked ship." Ron stated as he tiredly climbed off the hover sled and made for the nearest chair and sank into it. Exhausted, he closed his eyes and allowed his mind to drift a moment as he felt the hover craft get underway.

"Why hug the ground so closely?" He heard Drakken complain to Shego.

"We maybe cloaked so we're not visible to the naked eye but a heat scan could still detect our craft's heat signature, no?" Ron asked Drakken without opening his eyes.

"Well…Er, I suppose if someone had a very sensitive heat sensing satellite in space and were looking for us." Drakken reluctantly admitted.

"Want to wager on the fact that Global Justice might?" Ron asked again without opening his eyes.

"Um, no." Drakken again reluctantly admitted.

"Neither do I." Ron agreed. "Which is why if we cling as low to the ground as we can so the hot sands might mask us from that."

Ron was totally exhausted, not just physically but emotionally from seeing Kim again and knowing that Shego and the rest could handle their return to their home, Ron refused to refer to it as a lair, he allowed himself to relax. Feeling soft hair under his hand, Ron idly allowed his fingers to roam through it for several moments before his conscious mind registered the fact. His eyes flying open, Ron sat up straight in his chair and glanced down. There at his feet, her legs curled up underneath her, her hands still tied behind her back with her head resting on his leg was Bonnie.

"Oh for god's sake, will someone untie Bonnie already?" Ron asked as he snatched his hand away from her head as if her hair had suddenly burned him. Ron tried to ignore the dark part of his mind that surged forward as it took pleasure in seeing once again the once hateful and prideful 'Queen Bee' on her knees restrained before him.

"I don't mind." Bonnie said timidly looking up at her master. "I'm right where I belong and where I want to be, at my Master's feet."

Shego grabbing Bonnie by her shoulders leaned her forward so she could get to the restraints Kim had placed on her, accidentally thrusting the woman's face even closer to a seated Ron's crotch. A moment's application of her plasma power via a single finger tip melted the plastic tie freeing Bonnie's hands.

Bonnie still kneeling in front of Ron brought her hands around in front of her and tried to keep from wincing as she saw the angry red marks around her wrists were the tie had cruelly cut into her tender skin. Not wanting to show weakness in front of her master or the others, she tried to keep from whimpering in pain as she subtly tried to massage some feeling other than pain back into her wrists.

Ron leaning forward reached out, caught Bonnie by her hands, and examined them. The hands themselves were a slight bluish color, making the red marks on her wrists stand out even more but what disturbed Ron the most was how cold Bonnie's hands were in his grasp.

"Who did this to you? Was it Kim?" Ron nearly growled.

Bonnie looking up into Ron's eyes seemed mesmerized for a moment before dipping her head back down to look at her lap. She nodded her head. "She seemed enraged to see me." Bonnie quietly said.

Feeling Ron shifting his hands from her hands to her wrists she felt sudden warmth, glancing back up at Ron through her hair she was startled to see Ron's normal warm brown eyes had changed to an electric blue color. She almost pulled her hands out of his grasp in shock but paused when she noticed the pleasant soothing warmth was easing the pain in her hands and wrists.

"Master?" Her voice called out in wonder.

Ron's eyes flickered from the strange blue back to his normal chocolate brown color. "Is that better Bonnie?" He asked.

For a moment, the brunette couldn't form a coherent thought to answer as she stared into his expressive warm eyes but then with a deep blush she realized he meant her wrists and glanced down to see the ugly red marks were now gone and her hands were back to their normal healthy golden tan color. She flexed her fingers a few times and noticed there wasn't even a trace of stiffness or pain left in them. Looking back up at Ron in awe and devotion all she could say was. "How?"

"You remember that time in High School when I was sent to Japan as an exchange student?" Ron asked with a trace of a smile on his face.

Bonnie nodded her head.

"Well I picked up a few tricks there."

Once again, Bonnie could only stare at him in awe and shock. She blushed again but this time in shame. Here before her was even more proof that the man she once called Loser in high school was greater and more perfect than she could ever be. He had the ability to heal even back then and he never gloated or held it over anyone. Truly, she was a horrible person and more in need of Ron's corrections than even she had realized Bonnie thought in disgust at herself.

"Yes Master." She finally managed to say in answer to his question. "Thank you." Her voice becoming choked with emotions, Bonnie suddenly wondered if Ron realized just how pathetic she was when he suddenly frowned at her. Was he disgusted by how easily Kim had captured and restrained her? Or was it Ron was disgusted by how he had to take time out of his plan to rescue her?

"I robbed the Middletown Museum for you Master." She blurted out hoping to salvage whatever regard Ron had for her.

Bonnie could see Shego standing behind her and slightly to the side start to reach for her but paused as the one named Harley placed a hand on her arm and silently pulled her away to speak to her.

Bonnie would have tried to listen in to find out what they were discussing but she was too occupied in trying to study her master's face to gauge his reactions. Would her theft be enough to overcome her obvious failings and prevent him from tossing her overboard like the garbage Bonnie suddenly felt she was, or would Ron take pity on her and 'improve' her in the manner that Bonnie had dreamt he would?

Ron still frowning opened his mouth to say something but stopped as Shego once again stepped up beside the chair he was sitting in and placed a hand on his shoulder. Bonnie knew at that moment she had been right in suspecting that Shego was Ron's number one slave, the one she had to impress the most to gain Ron's favor.

"I would like to talk to you in private before you make any decisions on whether Bonnie stays with us or not." Shego told Ron.

Ron glanced at Shego and Bonnie could see something silently pass between them before Ron nodded his head. Glancing back at her he instructed her to await his return and relax. Rising from his chair, Ron followed Shego towards the back of the hover craft. The hover ship being so large it had several private cabin rooms back there Bonnie noted for the first time.

Getting up from the floor, Bonnie sat in the chair that Ron had recently occupied and closed her eyes as she reveled in the warmth left from Ron's presence. Opening her eyes after a moment, she allowed herself to examine the other people sharing the control room of the ship with her. Ivy and Harley was about eight feet away watching her and quietly whispering something to one another. Obviously, they were talking about her, which didn't bother Bonnie that much. She expected no less but what did worry her was the sad expression Harley gave her when she glanced in her direction. Ivy seemed indifferent which was more comforting to Bonnie than the obvious looks of pity Harley was giving her. Did Harley already know what Ron's decision would be? Once again, Bonnie worried that there had been some silent indicator that her not knowing Ron that well had missed that he was planning on throwing her overboard. To quell that disturbing thought Bonnie continued to look around. Slowly turning her chair as if she was merely bored, Bonnie spotted Rufus who had arrived with Ron and at some point had leaped off his shoulders after Ron had sat down in the chair. He was standing on a console nearby and was eyeing her in curiosity and a little hostility. She supposed she couldn't blame the animal. He, like Ron must have long memories of her being quite the bitch to them and was probably wondering what the hell she was doing here now.

Continuing to look around Bonnie next spotted the bald headed man she had heard was named Dr. Mozenberg. She had no idea who he was but he was fiddling with that huge piece of machinery they had brought up with him. The device was about refrigerator shaped and sized and as Bonnie watched, Mozenberg pressed a button on its side. Bonnie almost jumped in her seat when the device unfolded and somehow transformed till a large bulbous looking 'head' was towering above Mozenberg. Bonnie nervously swallowed as the machine looked like nothing more than some giant menacing metallic insect.

"Ah my MANTIS, it is good to see you were not damaged in all this rushing about." The doctor cooed at his machine and ran his hands down its side lovingly. Looks not unlike that of lust or some kind of desire on his face deeply disturbing Bonnie. Turning in her chair Bonnie found herself facing the man she had helped to push the money cart with. He had a towel up to his face scrubbing it and as he pulled the towel away, Bonnie was surprised to see his face was now blue. Thinking for a moment Bonnie suddenly remembered a time of eavesdropping on Kim and Ron in high school and hearing that the man was named Drakken and was one of Kim and Ron's enemies, back when Ron was a do-gooder.

The blue skinned man finally decided that the makeup he had been wearing was sufficiently cleared away enough to toss the towel to the side and turned to stare at Bonnie. Bonnie with an effort restrained the urge to shudder violently and look away as the man looked her over. Bonnie had been 'checked out' by a lot of guys, and even more than a few girls before but the way Drakken was unabashedly leering at her made her nervous.

"Drakken!" Ivy called out to the man in an annoyed voice. "Will you stop looking at our guest like she is some kind of piece of meat."

"What is she doing here anyway?" Drakken barked back. Obviously Drakken didn't get along very well with either Ivy or Harley. Bonnie decided.

"I've come to join Ron." Bonnie declared.

Once again, Drakken turned to stare at her in a manner that made Bonnie highly uncomfortable. "If he decides he doesn't want her, do you think he'll let me have her? After all I lost Shego, I think I should be compensated in some manner for the loss of MY henchwoman."

Bonnie felt her blood turn to ice in her veins. Surely Ron wouldn't order her to… He couldn't… Could He? A tiny portion of what Bonnie used to be rose up inside her in outrage. She wouldn't be some flunky's plaything if Ron decided he didn't want her…. Would she? Bonnie debated to herself if it came down to be dumped on the side of the road to never see her beloved master again, or being the plaything to that blue skinned freak but at least be able to see and be around her true master, which choice would she make? Bonnie began to hyperventilate as she contemplated her choices.

Harley quickly crossed to her side. "Bugger off Drakken!" The blond snarled at him. "The very idea! Ron is not some kind of pimp to supply you with women!"

To Bonnie, Harley placed an arm around her shoulders. "Calm down kid. Ron isn't going to make you…. Well Ron won't make you do anything with Drakken."

Bonnie looked at the woman with glassy eyes. "But will Ron throw me off this ship and leave me?" She asked in a broken voice.

Harley pulled Bonnie up from the chair into her embrace and hugged her. "Shhh. Shhh. Everything will work out, trust me."

Off to the side, Ivy slowly shook her head. She knew from experience that Harley had picked up another stray. She just hoped that Shego would allow Ron to keep Bonnie or there were soon to be a whole lot of drama soon in their lives.

Shego waited till Ron shut the door to the cabin before turning to face him. She looked at him with a combination of sadness and near rage on her face.

"Hey! If this is about Bonnie we can put her off some…." Ron paused, as the anger seemed to drain out of Shego leaving only the sadness behind.

"This isn't about Bonnie, Ron." Shego stated.

Ron looked confused.

"You asked her to come with us." Shego said.

"I didn't really ask Bonnie to come with us, you know. She just kind of came along for the ride." Ron started.

"Not Bonnie!" Shego nearly yelled. "You asked Kim to come with us!"

Ron took a long deep breath. "Oh. That."

"Yeah. That!" Shego growled. "How could you do that? After all she has done to you and nearly killing me with an ax you just blithely ask her to run off with you?"

"Shego, you know Kim wasn't really going to kill…" Ron stopped from the look Shego shot him. He sighed again. "I don't know what possessed me to do that Shego. She just looked so helpless then as she admitted she was seeking professional help for her problems…"

"Oh yippee. Precious Princess is seeking help, let's just forget her dismissing you like some dumb animal and forgive her for everything! Just dump good old faithful Shego and run off with…" Shego's voice broke as she angrily turned to keep Ron from seeing the tears in her eyes.

Ron was across the room wrapping his arms around Shego instantly. "I wasn't going to dump you for Kim!"

"I thought you were." Shego nearly sobbed and silently cursed herself for it. "You asked Princess to run off with you as I lay at her feet. What am I supposed to think?"

Ron truly was confused as he turned Shego to face him. "Shego try to see that from my point of view. I was in love with Kim…"

Shego tried to turn away again but Ron clung to her and forced her to look him in the eye. "I said I was in love with her, at one time. But the woman I loved rejected me. Do you want me to prove how much I love you? We can drop Ivy and Harley off with Bonnie and just you and I can…." Shego raised one hand and placed a finger on Ron's lips. "Don't say it. I've come to love Harley and Ivy as if they were sisters I've never had. I don't mind sharing you physically with other women because I thought I was the only one in your heart."

"You are. Don't you understand? I am in love with you Kim…."

Dead silence reigned in the cabin for several long moments.

Shego placed her hands on Ron's arms. "Let go of me Stoppable." Shego finally growled.

Ron instead of doing as she ordered only just pulled her even tighter to him. "Don't leave me Shego." He pleaded.

Shego struggled for a few moments before finally wrapping her arms around Ron's shoulders and holding him too. The poor man was now sobbing nearly hysterical and even though he had just cut her to the quick by saying Kim's name instead of hers, she couldn't just leave him in such obvious agony. "Don't leave me. Please for God's sake don't leave me Shego. I am so sorry for saying… her name. I didn't mean to. Please don't leave me! I love you Shego." Ron cried as he sunk to his knees still clinging desperately to Shego's legs.

Shego looked down on the sobbing man and smiled sadly. "You know Ron that is the problem. I believe you. I do believe that I have a place in your heart, the only problem is…so does Princess."

"Then help me Shego." Ron pleaded as he looked up at her. "Help me to burn Kim out of my mind and heart so there is only room for you. I don't want her there, not anymore."

"Shh. Shh. It's okay. It's okay. No matter how long it takes we'll rid you of Princess." Shego promised/comforted as she sank to her knees to hold Ron till he stopped sobbing and shaking.

Seeing that Ron had composed himself, Shego with only a slight bit of effort managed to get him to release the death grip he had around her and rising stepped back from him. "The thing we have to decide right now though, is what to do with Rockwaller."

"She's gone." Ron said instantly as he wiped the tears from his eyes. "We'll toss her out as soon as we can…."

Shego stopped him with a raised hand. "No Ron that is not what I want. Harley talked to me and pointed out how much Bonnie has changed since the last time we saw her. It's obvious the woman has been driving herself nearly nonstop to build herself up physically and you heard her in the control room, she robbed a museum to impress you. If you were dismiss her now or abandon her, Harley thinks it would snap her mind. That she'll commit suicide rather than face a life without you in it. I know you Ron, you couldn't live with that on your conscious and if you could, you would no longer be the man I fell in love with anyway."

"So what do you want me to do?" Ron asked confused once again.

"If I understand Harley's argument and Bonnie's actions, she thinks she is flawed and the only way she can be healed is if you are her master and help her to better herself. Then that is exactly what we'll do. We'll slowly build up Bonnie's destroyed self confidence and esteem until she can stand on her own once again."

Ron didn't look too sure. "She'll expect me to…" He swallowed nervously. "Punish her."

Shego raised an eyebrow at Ron. "And you still fear that if you do that, you'll be giving in to your dark side and might lose control and become a monster?"

Ron nodded.

Shego shook her head. "I don't understand you Ron. You spank Ivy all the time and you never fear that you'll grow to like it so much you might seriously hurt her or become a monster so what is it about this Bonnie person that makes you fear it so much?"

Ron hung his head and mumbled something.

"What was that Ron?" Shego asked.

"Bonnie treated me like dirt so much in high school. Telling me how worthless I was. In my mind, I started to think of her a little like Ki…. Her. They were both cheerleaders and in the end they both thought they were better than I was." Ron said refusing to say Kim's name in Shego's presence after nearly losing her for his slip earlier."

"Ah. So that is why you have such dark thoughts when she is around? It's not just repressed anger and resentment towards her but also Princess that has your dark side trying to come out? Then maybe this can be healing process for the both of you. You have to learn Ron that if you do something slightly cruel, it does not automatically make you a monster and you have to get some of that anger towards Bonnie back towards Kim where it belongs. Bonnie also has to learn to stand on her own two feet again."

"But what if Bonnie expects me to…" Ron trailed off.

"Screw her senseless?" Shego asked with just the tiniest bit of humor before getting serious once again. "The same rules apply to her as they do to Ivy and Harley. I won't mind it as long as we're all present and she knows it is just for physical pleasure." Shego's face grew dark and stormy looking. "But I'm not about to force Kimmie out of your heart so Bonnie can just mosey in and set up shop." Shego crossed to Ron and grabbing him by the shirt, she pulled him into a tight embrace. "Your heart belongs to me Ron. Get it? I can and will share you physically with others but your heart belongs to me and me alone. I won't tolerate anyone else in there but me!"

Ron nodded his head.

Shego breathed heavily for a moment staring into Ron's eyes before latching on to his lips as if she was dying of thirst and Ron's lips were the only source of moisture to be had. Finally, she pulled back from the soul searing kiss she had been giving him.

"Shego, there is nothing more I would like to be doing at this moment than you, er I mean, I would love to… Well you know what I mean!" Ron stammered. "But they are all waiting outside for us to give our decision on whether we let Bonnie stay or not…"

"Then let them wait for our answer." Shego replied as she started to divest Ron of his suit. "But I'm warning you right now Ron. If you scream out Kim's name while we make love, I'm liable to burn something of yours off, something that Harley and Ivy like as much as I do so you better only scream my name."

Bonnie could no longer sit still and had taken to pacing back and forth in the control room. It seemed like hours since Ron and Shego had retired to the back rooms to discuss her. What was taking them so long? Was Shego trying to convince Ron to be rid of her or was the green skinned woman arguing in her favor? Bonnie's nerves were stretched so tight she was sure the others could hear them like a harp's strings being plucked as she paced. It didn't help that every time Bonnie made the mistake of looking over in Drakken's direction she found he was still leering at her as if trying to take her clothes off with his eyes. Sure, Harley had assured her Ron wouldn't order her to… do that but what if Harley was wrong? Bonnie paused in her pacing.

"_No. Master couldn't do that. We know him. He's a sweet, caring, nice guy." _ Bonnie's mind argued with her. _"A sweet caring guy that tied us up in some dirty underground lair and threatened to whip us." _Bonnie argued back. _"And we wanted it. We wanted it so badly. We still do."_ Her mind reminded her.

To take her mind away from her thoughts, Bonnie glanced over at Harley and Ivy, who were…. Slowly and seductively kissing and feeling each other up! Bonnie blinked and looked again to see if she had been mistaken. Nope, the two women were over by one of the large money cases that had stolen and Ivy had Harley pressed against the cart and it looked like she was doing her level best to put her tongue down a softly moaning Harley's throat. Sensing someone coming up behind her, Bonnie quickly glanced over her shoulder to see Drakken was standing beside her observing the two women as well. "They do that a lot." The man grumbled. Drakken shifted his eyes to look at Bonnie out of the corner of them. "They'll expect you to do it too I bet."

"To do what?" Bonnie swallowed nervously.

"Join them. Didn't you know? When Ron takes his women it is always together. Oh I think him and Shego get it on alone once in a while but most of the time it is a constant orgy with those four."

"An orgy you have not been invited to." Bonnie stated noticing the blue man's obvious jealousy.

Drakken watching the two women lustfully snarled confirming Bonnie's guess.

"So girl, do you think you can bring yourself to pleasure another woman while Ron is busy with Shego? Or maybe you won't mind doing him while women you barely know are nibbling or licking parts of yourself that no woman has ever seen before?" Drakken said trying to make Bonnie uncomfortable.

Bonnie rolled her eyes. "Oh please. I used to be a cheerleader. You think I've never thought of getting it on with another woman? I used to shower almost daily with other girls that had the guys at our high school drooling over their assets."

Drakken looked back at Harley and Ivy before leering at Bonnie. "So you have…?"

"That really is none of your business." Bonnie replied looking down her nose at him. Inwardly Bonnie felt her stomach clench at Drakken's information and his comments. Sure, she had been a cheerleader and yes, she had occasionally noticed how attractive the other girls had been. Hell even Kim was a knockout with her clothes off and water streaming down that tone and naked body but Bonnie had never allowed herself to go beyond a few mere thoughts and experiment in that manner. She knew her good friend Tara and some of the other cheerleaders had, Tara had confided in her once that she had but Bonnie had never learned with whom Tara had made it with and she didn't really care to know. The only thing she knew was Tara had confided that making it with a girl was completely different than making it with a guy. Tara had told her it was so much more slower and unhurried with a woman than it was with a guy but in the end it was more satisfying with a guy than a girl.

To Bonnie's way of thinking, proving herself by having sex with either Ivy, Harley or Shego to be with Ron was infinitely more desirable than having to be Drakken's slave.

"You agree to be my servant." Drakken whispered into her ear. "And I will never force you into having sex with another woman. I can shape and mold you into being my perfect henchwoman."

Bonnie looked in disdain at Drakken. "If that is my choices, I would rather make it with those two than ever have you touch or try to 'mold' me."

Drakken glared at her but then glancing to the side, he quickly moved away. Wondering what had startled the blue skinned creep, Bonnie looked forward again to find a grinning Harley standing right in front of her. Her blouse slightly undone from her actions with Ivy just moments ago and her face still flush with passion. "What was that I heard about someone saying they wouldn't mind making out with me and Ivy?" Harley asked with a decided wicked smirk on her face.

"Um, that isn't exactly what I said!" Bonnie squeaked as she started to back away from the blond with the demented grin on her face.

"Harley, are you never sated?" Ron's voice called out from behind Bonnie.

Bonnie could hear an amused snort coming from Ivy at the question as Bonnie spun around to look at her Master. Bonnie started to run the short distance to Ron but pulled to a stop when she noticed Shego at his side. She settled for shifting nervously from foot to foot as she waited for Ron to address her.

Bonnie felt a bit like she was a young girl again in front of her father waiting to see if he would allow her to have ice cream or force her to watch as her sisters got to eat it in front of her while she went without.

As Ron continued to just look at her, Bonnie couldn't take the suspense anymore and decided to try and plead her case before Ron. "I robbed the Middletown museum for you Master." She once again said. "Well not just for you but for you and your other…" Bonnie paused. She wasn't sure what to call the other women. Did they refer to themselves as Ron's slaves? She hadn't heard them use that term to describe what they were to Ron, other than that one time with Harley back at that lair so would they be insulted or honored if Bonnie were to call them Ron's slaves?

Harley was once again at her side distracting Bonnie from her mental wanderings.

"You stole something for me as well?" Harley asked, looking like a child waiting at Christmas for her gift.

Bonnie nodded her head and reaching up she started to undo the top part of the elaborate evening style dress she was wearing.

"Now wait just a minute!" Ivy began but then stopped when she noticed that Bonnie wasn't throwing herself at Harley but that there was some kind of leather costume underneath the evening dress and Bonnie was just removing the covering dress. As the dress came off, they could all see that Bonnie was wearing a leather corset like top that left her shoulders bare. As the dress slid to the floor it was revealed the bottom of the costume was a skin tight body suit and what everyone had assumed was just high leather boots turned out to be the rest of the her costume and it was one piece. Bonnie's hand went to a wide belt around her middle opening a side pocket she removed gloves and a face mask and slid them on.

Harley stepped back a pace to observe better and placed a fingertip to her lips in contemplation she slowly circled the brunette. "I like the leather… Like the stiletto boots, although a bit tricky to run in I would think…" Harley resisted, barely, the urge to stroke Bonnie's leather clad butt as she came around behind the woman and then around in front of her before stopping. "The mask is a nice touch but what are you supposed to be?"

"I call myself Shadow Cat." Bonnie stated. "I was going to just call myself Catwoman but then thought that was kind of silly name for a grown woman."

Bonnie didn't understand why Harley and Ivy started snickering and feared they were laughing and mocking her.

Harley decided to take pity on the obviously crestfallen woman. "We're not laughing at you hun. We just happen to know someone back where we are from that called herself Catwoman. We just thought it was funny you decided the name was silly."

"I'm not original?" Bonnie asked still feeling a bit depressed.

Harley stepped up close to her. "Now, don't be down. You are original here and take it from me; your costume is even hotter than Catwoman in our home dimension." Harley stated as she trailed a finger across Bonnie's leather clad breasts stopping just near the edge of where the costume ended and Bonnie's cleavage began. "Now what did you bring me?" Harley asked with a smirk.

"Harley." Ivy's voice warned her.

Bonnie blinked a few times. It surprised her but Harley's antics were starting to turn her on a little. Finally regaining her sense of balance she reached down to another pocket on her belt and opening it she pulled out the gemstone she had stolen with Harley in mind and held it up in front of the blond's eyes and waved it slightly side to side. "It's called the Harlequin Ruby. As soon as I saw it I thought of you."

Harley reached out for the tantalizing gem but Bonnie pulled it away. "You don't have a problem with me joining Ron do you?" Bonnie asked putting a slight pout in her voice.

Harley sidled up to Bonnie's side. "Nope. But don't think the ruby is what is cinching the deal." And in so saying Harley reached up and pinched Bonnie's leather clad butt startling the woman and making her drop the ruby. Harley snatched it out of mid air and with a laugh danced backwards with it, holding it up to the light and peering through it at Bonnie.

Ivy sighed and shook her head at Harley's antics and then returned to watching Bonnie.

"I stole a gem for you too." Bonnie said after a moment regaining her composure after being groped by Harley.

"Gems aren't really my thing." Ivy replied dismissively and started to turn away.

Bonnie fearful that Ivy was mad at her for the way her girlfriend was obviously coming on to her, reached into another side pocket and pulled out the large emerald she had stolen for her. "It's called the Tear of the Jungle." She called out.

Ivy intrigued in spite of herself looked back. "Tear of the Jungle?"

Bonnie nodded her head. "I looked it up on the internet while I was in Vegas. It was found in a temple in the Amazon. They say natives used to believe it was a tear from the eye of the jungle goddess and that plants grew faster and more plentiful in sunlight shone through the gem."

"Really?" Ivy asked intrigued.

Bonnie once again nodded her head. "There is supposed to be two of them. One at the corner of each eye of a giant stone statue but someone had stolen the first one before the temple was discovered by explorers who took this one. Native superstition says that when both tears are returned to the idol the jungle will flourish once again and take over the entire planet."

Ivy walked over to Bonnie and took the gem from her hands. "Now there is a story after my own heart." Ivy said.

"You won't mind if I join Ron and your group?" Bonnie asked.

"Nope. I don't mind at all." Ivy said and started to turn to walk away. She paused and turning back to Bonnie caught her by complete surprise as the red haired woman suddenly reached out and caught Bonnie by the back of her head and pulled her to her and kissed her deeply. Bonnie blinked in shock as Ivy released her. "That was to thank you properly for the gem."

Bonnie in a bit of a daze found herself facing Ron himself. Scrambling she quickly opened another pocket on the belt and pulled out the large star sapphire. "The Middletown Star, Master. I took it for you. It is perfect." Bonnie blushed. "Just like you are Master."

Ron accepted the gem from her. "Thank you…" He paused for a moment. "My little Bon Bon." He added in a slightly deeper voice than nearly caused Bonnie's legs to turn to water.

Bonnie nearly floating on a cloud that Ron had finally used his pet name for her noticed Shego standing at his side frowning at her. Bonnie's hands started to fly to the pocket containing the Luna Stone before she remembered how ugly a gem it was.

"Um…Ah…" Bonnie stuttered.

Shego raised an eyebrow. "Didn't get anything for me did you?"

"Um…Yes. Yes I did." Bonnie replied. "It was even the center of attraction at the museum. It was contained in a center display cabinet all on its own."

Drakken who had been watching in undisguised jealousy and a bit of lust at the way Harley and Ivy had been playing with the new woman felt his eyebrows rise. Surely, she wasn't talking about the Luna Stone? He had been planning on having Shego steal that gem for him. It was almost vital to his original plans along with the Dimensional Vortex Inducer.

Shego folded her arms across her chest. "Well? Let's see this great gem then."

"Um…" Bonnie bit her lip before deciding to just get it over with. Reaching into its pocket at the center of her belt Bonnie pulled the ugly rock out and handed it over to Shego.

Shego looked down at the rock in her hand. It looked a bit like someone had taken a lump of lead and had melted it into a unformed mass. It was dull, it was misshapened, and all in all, it was just one ugly piece of rock. "And this stone made you think of me?" Shego asked.

Bonnie, her eyes growing larger in alarm shook her head wildly. "No Mistress. It was just… I was interrupted in my stealing by Kim and that Du person… I had to grab… I mean I don't think it reflects you at all. You are beautiful!" Bonnie could feel tears start to gather in her eyes, as the thought of her chances of joining the group was going right out the proverbial window with the slight Shego must be feeling upon receiving the ugliest hunk of rock any of them had ever seen.

Shego felt her wrist grabbed and looked to see Drakken was the one doing it. "It is. It is the Luna Stone." Drakken breathed as if was witness to the Ark of the Covenant being opened just for him.

"Luna Stone?"

Drakken was mesmerized by the ugly rock in Shego's hand. "The Luna Stone was first reported in history as Japanese monks witnessed what they called a falling star strike the moon. They reported that the night turned as if to day and then a large silvery streak fell to earth. A warlord seeing the sight decided it was an omen and tracked the fallen star to a crater where this stone was resting. He demanded his sword makers to make a sword out of the metal. The sword makers realized the metal was far too soft to make a good sword so they only scraped a tiny fraction off of it and added that to their normal sword making procedures." Drakken released Shego's hand and before she could react, he had snatched the stone out of her hand and turned it over. There on the back of the lump could clearly be seen several long gouges.

"The stories are true." Drakken could barely breathe.

"So what did this doohickey do to the sword it was mixed with?" Harley asked looking on curiously.

Drakken being shaken from his wonderment closed his fist around the stone. "They say the warlord upon receiving the sword decided to test the blade to see how strong it was and ordered a captured soldier brought before him. The man was dressed in the finest Samurai armor. The only reason they had caught the man was because he had wandered during battle into a swamp like area and his armor prevented him from escaping until the warlord's army captured him. That even restricted as he had been by the swamp, the soldier had bested the warlord's army because his armor was so good no blade or spear could penetrate it. It was only after he was exhausted in fighting that the warlord's army had been able to drag him out."

"Yeah, yeah. So what happened?" Harley asked.

"It is reported that when the Warlord had taken a practice swing at the captured soldier, his new blade passed through the man and his armor as if cutting only rice paper. The warlord still wanting to test the strength of the blade and not its cutting ability then hit a tree with the flat of the blade to see if the blade would break. The tree too was ripped in half as if the blade was unbreakable and unstoppable. The warlord immediately called for his blacksmiths to forge a full set of Samurai armor out of the Luna Stone. The blacksmiths were at a loss on how such a soft material as the stone could have such drastic effects as what they had seen the blade do, once again took only the tiniest amount of the stone and mixed it in with the other metals used to forge the armor." Drakken paused as he slowly opened his hand to stare at the stone.

"Well? What happened with the warlord dude got his new armor?" Harley asked.

"The armor simply could not be pierced by any weapon." Drakken replied. "It is reported that they tried everything once the armor had been forged to break it. Nothing could even scratch it and the blacksmiths had to admit it had to be the stone's influence as they had done nothing else different and all their other works could be destroyed eventually." Drakken once again closed his fist around the Luna Stone. "Oh and of course there was also the stories about the unbelievable luck the warlord had once he had his new sword and armor made with the Luna Stone."

"Luck?" Bonnie asked thinking about how lucky she had been escaping so many times from Kim and the winnings at Vegas and most importantly to her, finding her master once again.

Drakken shook his head as if that part of the story wasn't important. "Yes, luck. There are stories of ambushes being set for the warlord and something strange happening causing him to avoid them. Like rival armies setting up a rock slide to bury him alive but right before entering the booby trapped ravine the warlord slipped on a wet patch of grass so he was not with his army when the landslide was released. It is even said the warlord was present when the Mongols tried to attack Japan by sea and a strange storm suddenly blew in destroying their fleet. Silly superstitions are all that is. But the Luna Stone itself is real!"

"What eventually happened to this warlord?" Ivy asked.

"Uh? Oh, he eventually died of old age and passed his armor and sword onto his son, who promptly turned around and gave them as a sign of loyalty to the emperor who locked them up in the armory. I believe the armor and sword now reside in some Japanese museum somewhere."

"So what do you believe the Luna Stone does that gave the sword and armor such abilities?" Ron finally asked.

"It is a catalyst agent. By itself the stone does nothing but mix it with normal earth bound metals and it strengths them a thousand fold." Drakken replied. "And it only takes the merest fractions of the stone to do this! And it's all mine! Mine!"

Shego lashed out, caught Drakken's wrist, and slowly turned his closed fist over till his hand was pointed downward. With the slightest of pressures she applied until his hand sprang open dropping the ugly Luna Stone into her other hand. "The rock is mine. Bonnie stole it for me, not you."

Drakken growled for a moment before a look that Shego had never seen before came over his face. "Then let me have the woman."

"What?!" Shego nearly shouted.

"It's only fair. Am I not a member of this group? Has not he…" Drakken said nodding his head in Ron's direction. "Already gotten enough of my things? He has my hovercraft, he has taken over my ideas of ruling the world and he has stolen from me you Shego. You were my sidekick before he stole you away. So do I not deserve something? Keep the Luna Stone and let me have Bonnie. I will train her to be my sidekick, among other things…" Drakken looked past Shego towards Bonnie.

"Again with this?" Harley rolled her eyes. "I told you, Ron is not your pimp. You want a woman so damn bad we can drop you off on the nearest street corner and let you pick up a hooker or something."

"Why should this buffoon get everything?!" Drakken shouted.

Almost instantly Bonnie had crossed the short distance between her and Drakken and had removed a small pocket knife from one of the pockets on her belt and had it pressed to his neck as if she was about to carve his throat out. "Don't…You…Ever….Call…The… Master….A buffoon again!" Bonnie growled out.

"Ooh. I like this girl. Can we keep her?" Harley asked.

"Yes, we are keeping her." Shego answered.

"Bonnie release Drakken." Ron told her but Bonnie didn't budge a muscle. "Bon Bon…" Ron said dropping his tone several octaves lower.

Bonnie instantly stepped away from Drakken and returned the small knife back to its pocket. "Sorry Master but I kind of lost it when he disrespected you in such a manner."

"It's not fair! He gets everything!" Drakken in a nasally voice whined.

"Oh for god's sakes if it'll shut you up…. Here!" Shego grumbled as she tossed him the Luna Stone.

Drakken cradling the Luna Stone in his hands as if it was a newborn baby cackled in glee and ran off to the back rooms of the hover craft before Shego could change her mind.

"But Mistress. I stole that for you." Bonnie softly said.

"It's the thought that counts." Shego replied. "And the very thought you stole it out from under Kim's nose makes it a very well appreciated gift. Thank you Bonnie."

"Please call me Bon Bon Mistress."

Shego watched her for a moment. "Very well Bon Bon."

"Did I hear you say you were going to keep me?"

Shego nodded her head. "But there are certain ground rules you are going to have to obey. First is, no trying to get Ron to yourself. He belongs to all of us. Second rule is, you are starting out at the very bottom of the totem pole and you better know that! You are to obey anything any of us tells you as if we were Ron himself. No back talking or lip from you."

Bonnie eagerly nodded her head but then her eyes shifted to look where Drakken had run off to.

"Except for him. I never listened to him when I was working for him." Shego amended.

"What about fun time?" Harley asked eyeing Bonnie.

"That will be for Bonnie to make up her own mind about." Shego said giving Harley a warning look.

"Fun time?" Bonnie asked.

Harley smiled largely and starting moving towards Bonnie.

"I swear Harley, you are never sated. You have to be the biggest nympho I have ever seen." Ron suddenly commented.

Harley folded her arms across her chest. "I am not! I just like to have fun." She said as she stomped her foot.

"Oh, fun time. I think I just figured out what she meant." Bonnie said quietly with a nervous swallow.

"Does that thought bother you?" Shego asked. Shego having always been bi-sexual realized she didn't know what Bonnie's sexual preferences were, well except for the fact she obviously hungered for Ron's touch.

"It doesn't exactly bother me. I mean I've never…. But like I told Drakken, I used to be a cheerleader and I'm not naïve, I mean I know it happens…." Bonnie stammered.

Ron walked away to check on the auto pilot and to put a few more twists and turns into its programming so as to obscure their trail back home even further. He felt a little bad about leaving Bonnie in the middle of Shego, Harley and Ivy but if she was going to join the group, she had to learn her place in the group and to stand up for what she wanted. Having set the controls the way he wanted them, he glanced back to see that even the usually aloof Ivy was joining in teasing Bonnie.

"You'll find that if you are interested, it's just like riding a bike." Ivy was telling her.

"Just the handle bars are oh so soft and curved and the ride can last forever." Harley with a grin had come up beside Bonnie.

"But…but…but…" Bonnie was stuttering.

Harley leaned to the side and glanced at Bonnie's butt. "Yeah you have a great one."

Bonnie spun to keep an eye on Harley and missed Ivy coming up behind her.

"And if you are nervous the first few times we can always restrain you. I noticed you didn't mind having your hands cuffed behind you."

Bonnie spun around to face her and backed away so as to keep an eye on both of the women. Ron was reminded of how he had been when first exposed to the two women's almost tag team seduction attempts.

"Okay you two; you have had your fun teasing her. Let her at least get used to our group before you try to scare her half to death." Ron said as he sat down in a chair.

Bonnie quickly walked over to where Ron was sitting. Ron glanced up at her and made a gesture to his lap. "Sit down Bon Bon."

Bonnie started to sit down in his lap but was stopped by Shego. "Not like that." She said.

Bonnie thinking for a moment finally realized what Shego meant and crawled up into Ron's lap as if she was some kind of house cat and lay face down with her butt across Ron's lap as if she was about to be spanked for being naughty.

Ron glanced up in question at Shego but Shego merely raised an eyebrow at him as if to say. We talked about this. After a moment, Ron allowed one of his large hands to rest on Bonnie's leather clad butt and started to slowly stroke it.

"Master?" Bonnie after a moment asked.

"Yes Bon Bon?" Ron said as he continued to stroke her butt.

"Will you punish me?"

"Have you done something for me to punish you for?"

"It took me a long time to find you."

"But that wasn't really your fault was it?"

Bonnie feeling her body nearly on fire from the slow teasing Ron was doing and suddenly felt a little self conscious and from her prone position looked at the others. Shego she couldn't see her face because she was standing right next to the chair she and her Master was sitting in but Bonnie could see Ivy and Harley from where they were standing watching. Harley was smiling while Ivy seemed entranced watching Ron's hands as he stroked Bonnie's rear end.

"Do you punish the others?" Bonnie suddenly felt herself asking.

"Those that want me to and ask me to do it." Ron admitted. "Harley doesn't like it but Ivy loves it when I spank her."

"Oh." Bonnie was quiet for a moment. "Master?"

"Yes?"

"Please spank me. I've been really bad and I've missed your touch for so long Ron."

Ron's hand ceased its movements on her butt. "Bon Bon…."

"Yes?"

"You called me by my name instead of Master. Should you do that?"

"Um, no?" Bonnie said barely able to talk as her breathing became ragged with need.

Ron suddenly raised his hand and brought it down sharply on Bonnie's butt causing a sting. Bonnie let out a tiny yelp and suddenly felt warmth flood her lower regions. "Harder Master. Harder please!"

Soon the sound of Ron spanking Bonnie on the behind rang out through the entire hover craft. Harley watching Ivy out of the corner of her eye could see the redhead was flushed and breathing heavily as she watched and Harley knew at any moment Ivy was going to suddenly latch on to her and try to kiss her senseless and she was eagerly awaiting it.

Shego knelt down next to where Bonnie gasping as Ron spanked her and gently tilted her face up to hers to look her in the eyes. Shego stared into Bonnie's eyes for several long moments and then lowered her head down to Bonnie's. Bonnie without hesitation pressed her lips against Shego's and moaned into her mouth as Ron continued to spank her.

Riding on top of the hover craft's roof, a certain female ninja listened to the obvious sounds of pleasure coming from inside and longed to join them but remained where she was. It wasn't quite time for Yori to join Ron and she knew it so she contented herself with listening and imaging the sights that went along with the sounds she was picking up.

Doctor Mozenberg from where he was polishing his MANTIS looked over at the almost full blown orgy going on and just shook his head. People did the strangest things and there were times he barely understood his own race. "But that is okay, isn't it my lovely MANTIS. As long as I have you and my research I don't need to understand people do I?" He quietly asked his machine. The MANTIS however did not express an opinion.


	22. Chapter 22

Partners in Crime

By Weirdbard

Chapter 22

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Author's note:

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Okay, I know I'm mixing and matching here with the various forms of Batman cartoons. That the Joker I'm using is the more sophisticated and dapper dressed but still quite homicidal maniac of the earlier batman cartoons and that Detective Yin comes from the later cartoon series but what can I say? I like Yin so I'm going to use her in my story.

I'm not sure if I have to keep doing this but… I do not own any characters from either Batman nor Kim Possible. This story is strictly written (and one hopes read) for pleasure. No profits are being made and no disrespect is meant to any creator or company.

The next immediate scene contains descriptions of extreme violence. We are talking about the Joker here after all.

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Gotham City: Seven months after the disappearance of Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy:

As the elevator doors opened onto the batcave, Alfred Pennyworth glanced at the main computer console expecting, or maybe better to say, hoping to see Batman at the station, but the chair was vacant.

"Oh dear." Alfred quietly sighed to himself. "Perhaps he is in the training room?" A brisk walk down the stairs revealed unfortunately that the training room was empty as well. A glance over the railing down to the garage level of the batcave revealed that the batmobile was still in place so that meant Batman was not prowling the city. This left one place left for the faithful servant to look and he hoped against hope that he wouldn't find his employer and friend there yet again. Carefully picking his way over a less refined path through the immense batcave, Alfred moved past twists and turns around boulders and steep drop-offs till he reached a natural untouched part of the cavern. There a natural stone formation formed a giant throne like chair. When the very young Bruce Wayne after the death of his parents first found the cavern that was to become the batcave, Alfred had found the young boy after a long search in the cave sleeping on the throne after crying his eyes out. To this day every time Batman became deeply depressed or morose, he found his way to the throne and would brood in the gloom. Alfred resisted the urge to sigh deeply when indeed he found Bruce dressed in the batman costume except for his cowl being down sitting in the darkness on the throne.

"Master Bruce." Alfred attempted to draw the man from his dark brooding. However, Bruce Wayne ignored Alfred as he contemplated the darkness of not only that part of the batcave but also the gloom of his own soul. "Master Bruce." Alfred raised his voice slightly. "We have been over this. It was not your fault that Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn were…" Alfred trailed off.

"Destroyed?" Bruce replied in an emotionless voice. "Then whose was it Alfred? Not only did my chasing them cause Harley to attempt to fend me off with an unstable piece of equipment but it was also a piece of equipment created by Wayne Enterprises that killed them. I am completely responsible for what happened to them in more ways than one. If a scientist under the employee of my company hadn't invented that device and if I as Batman had reacted quicker both Ivy and Harley would be alive today."

"And if they hadn't broken the law by stealing it." Alfred pointed out.

Bruce Wayne slumping in the natural stone chair lifted his head slightly to stare at Alfred. "Petty theft does not warrant a death penalty Alfred. Of all my enemies, those two deserved being killed less than any of the others."

"It was an accident, not a sentence." Alfred argued back. "And are you quite sure they were killed? You yourself said there were no bodies, just a flash of light and they were gone. Did you ever find out from the scientist that created the device what exactly it was meant to do?"

Bruce sighed and reaching up massaged the side of his head with a gloved hand. "No, the man is totally insane and is in a cell in Arkham now. All he would mumble when questioned about his device was, "soon the pieces will be collected and he will be whole." His notes in the lab were as scattered as his ramblings are now. We know the device was named the Trans-Dimensional Vortex Inducer but other than that, how it worked or what it was suppose to accomplish. No one knows."

"Their deaths, if indeed they did die, are not your fault Master Bruce!"

Bruce started to reply but was halted when the Bat signal alert went off, sighing he reached up and pulled his cowl up and over his face becoming fully Batman once again. "It's a pity that not all share your belief Alfred." He replied as he made his way to the batmobile. Moments later Alfred could hear the roar of the powerful car as it left the batcave.

Police Headquarters: Gotham City:

Batman using his grapple gun quickly reached the top of the building and found Detective Ellen Yin waiting for him. The attractive Asian-American woman looked like she had seen better days, or maybe even better months. Dark rings around her eyes testified that her and sleep had not been on speaking terms for many many nights.

"Why did you call me here rather than explain over the bat communicator?" Batman asked in way of a greeting.

"The type of news I have to pass on isn't the kind of thing that should be told over a radio."

"It's him again, isn't it?" He asked.

Neither of them had to voice the name of maniacal clown, when it came to 'hims' there could only be one that would bring such a strong reaction from both the Batman and Yin. Yin nodded her head and Batman caught a glint of tears in Yin's eyes. This more than anything caused a feeling of icy fingers to run up and down his spine. In Batman's experience, Yin hardly ever cried. Not when she was on duty as a police officer. How she dealt with the normal horrors that Gotham could produce on her off hours was anyone's guess.

"Is it more blonds?" Batman finally asked.

Yin shook her head. "He's moved on to redheads now."

Batman standing near the edge of the building turned slightly to glance over the city. For a brief moment, he lost himself in recent memories. It had happened soon after Harley and Ivy had disappeared in that flash of light that night. The Joker not long afterwards escaped yet again from Arkham and began searching the city for Harley and Ivy.

You might think that after basically throwing away Harley that the Joker would leave her alone but in the Joker's twisted mind, if he threw her away she was supposed to die, anything else spoiled his 'joke'. She certainly wasn't suppose to find love and comfort in the arms of Poison Ivy and forget all about her 'puddin', so the Joker every time he would escape from Arkham after ridding himself of Harley would search out the two women and try to kill them.

He always failed as the two women together were very strong and resourceful but this latest time he went to make their lives miserable they were gone completely. After exhausting every avenue known to him and not finding a single trace of them anywhere in the world, the Joker somehow hit upon the thought that Batman must be responsible for their disappearance. The fact that it was just another symptom of the Joker's obsession with the Batman and he had no way of knowing that this time he was correct didn't slow the maniac down.

The first of the Joker's insane actions was to hunt down every blond in Gotham that made the mistake of wearing their hair in pigtails like those that Harley had. Young or old, natural blonds or bleached ones, it didn't matter. Every blond the Joker came across wearing that hairstyle he would carve their faces so they had huge ghastly smiles and then string their dead bodies from light posts of Gotham making them horrific marionettes. It didn't even slow the Joker down when the blonds of Gotham realized that pigtails were now a death sentence and started wearing their hair in different styles. The Joker just started kidnapping blonds and fixing their hair into that style before slaughtering them anyway.

It didn't take long before every women or girl in Gotham City learned that blonds did not have more fun, not in Gotham not anymore and started dyeing their hair.

Batman pulled himself from the painful memories and looked back at Yin. "Who?" He asked.

"The McClure Family. Do you know of them?"

Batman nodded. As Bruce Wayne, he knew the family quite well. "They were one of the few rich families in Gotham that were not insufferable in their wealth and were genuinely well liked by almost all. Henry McClure made his wealth in 'green products' that helped the environment and was considered one of the most 'responsible' rich men of Gotham. He had married a lively and beautiful Irish redhead and together they had produces six daughters of various ages and temperaments. The only thing all the daughters had in common was that they shared their mother's flaming red hair."

"The McClures had six daughters." Yin said and clutched her arms across her chest.

Batman could feel the blood inside his veins turn to ice. "Had?"

"The Joker this morning kidnapped the girls…" Yin's voice broke slightly before she regained her composure. "He…Then took them and various plant trimmings and…. Fed them into a chipper/shredder. Their remains were spewed into a huge wooden bowl and then he…" Yin once again almost broke down. "He then sprayed the remains with vinegar and olive oil."

Batman stared at Yin in horror. "He turned them into a…"

Yin, her entire body shaking, nodded her head. "A salad. He left this horrific mess in front of the police station this morning with a note attached to the bowl." She held out the note for batman to read for himself.

Batman took the note and tried to ignore the reddish marks on the paper that had obviously come from the young McClure girls' blood. Scrawled in what looked like crayon was the childish scribbling of the Joker's. "No redhead or blond is safe in Gotham City until you turn over Harley and Ivy to me. Love and kisses… The Joker."

"How are the McClures taking this?" Batman asked after a long moment.

"Mrs. McClure had a total nervous breakdown, not surprisingly. Mr. McClure has taken her out of country to a private sanitarium in Sweden. To help her recover but also for the fact that she is a natural redhead and he fears the Joker will come after her as well. The only reason she is alive today is because she was away from the family home at the time of the attack."

Batman under his cowl winced. He knew very well why Mrs. McClure wasn't at her home this morning. She was helping with the Wayne Foundation's organization of a charity ball. Ironically, the charity was to help locate missing children. Even if the Joker had not planned that part, his actions had created another of his ghastly jokes.

Batman turns to leave but was stopped by Yin's hand on his arm. "Do you know what has happened to Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy? I would never advocate throwing someone to a rabid dog like the Joker, not even wanted criminals like Harley and Ivy but if they were just to make an appearance in Gotham once again, the Joker would turn from killing innocents and go back to hunting them again."

Batman slowly shook his head. "I have no idea where they have gone."

.

.

Ron's Dimension at his lair/home in Nevada:

Harley suddenly sneezed and sat up from where she had been lying on the man-made beach that ringed the small island that was the entrance to their underground home. She was wearing a tiny almost 'not there' emerald green bikini. Her and the other women had decided to make use of the early morning sunlight to do some sunbathing as the sunlight was too harsh later in the day. It had been almost a month since the casino heist and at Shego's insistence; they had decided to lay low to throw Kim Possible and Global Justice off their trail rather than to continue with more thefts like those that they had planned. That and the surprise addition of Bonnie and Mozenberg to their little 'family' spurred on their impromptu vacation to give them time to 'settle' in with the group and the fact of how huge their haul from the single casino had been didn't hurt either.

Ivy who was lying next to her lover/companion pulled a pair of sunglasses down her nose to look over the top of them at Harley. Ivy was wearing a matching green bikini except her's covered slightly more skin than Harley's. Seeing Harley give a slight shiver, she stated. "You can't be cold. It is almost 90 degrees already today."

Harley gave a half shrug. "Just got one of those strange feelings. You know, when someone says someone just walked over their grave." Harley pondered for a moment. "You know I never understood that expression until just now. I mean how can someone walk over your grave if you are still alive?"

"But you understand it now?" Ivy asked.

Harley nodded her head. "It's just a damn creepy feeling that can only be described by saying that old cliché."

Shego lying a few feet away in a typical red and black bikini pulled her own sunglasses down to peer over the top edge as Ivy was doing. "Maybe someone is just talking about you?" Sensing someone coming down the slight incline behind her, Shego glanced over her shoulder to see Bonnie had joined them. Bonnie was wearing one of Shego's old bikini's which was little too tight in the bottoms and since Shego was larger than she in the breasts, was a little too loose in the top. Bonnie was carrying a tray that had on it four tall glasses of lemonade, which she handed out to all of them before sitting down on the sand next to Shego. "Perhaps it is that Drakken guy? I notice how he leers at all of us when we are not looking." Bonnnie said after taking a sip of her own lemonade.

"You mean the way he stares at you." Harley replied back.

"Was he always so…" Bonnie trailed off not sure how to phrase her comment.

"Much of a dirty old man?" Harley finished for her.

Shego frowned. "I don't know what has gotten into Dr. D lately. He never used to act like this around me before."

Harley grinning leaned in Shego's direction. "Oh? Remember that whip, ball gag and French maid outfit we found in that lair? The maid costume sure wasn't in his size. Are you sure he never gave any signs around you and you just didn't notice?"

Shego frown turned into a bit of a scowl. "Well he did once use neural compliance chips on me."

"What's that?"

"They were chips when placed on your forehead made you obey commands. They made you a mindless robot." Shego scowled as she remembered.

"Hmm." Harley mused and shared a glance with Ivy. "That sounds a little like those things Mad Hatter used. He was a scientist back where we came from that invented a device that made anyone that was wearing them into his slaves. So what happened with you and Drakken's chips?"

Shego gave a shrug. "What else? Princess showed up but got captured and turned into one of Drakken's puppets along with me. Ron and Kim's twin brothers showed up. While Ron distracted and kept Drakken busy, the twins did something that screwed up the devices and freed me and Kimmie." Shego held up a hand and allowed her green fire to play around her hand for a moment. "I made sure Drakken knew to never try that with me again but at no time while either Kim or I was under his control did he try any funny business."

"Maybe he planned on it but just didn't get around to it? Or maybe that was when he started thinking about you and him?"

Shego's frown let Harley know it was better to drop that line of questioning.

"In any case, at one point I had an emotion controlling chip stuck to me and it made me go all ga-ga over Dr. D. and he didn't take advantage then."

Ivy glanced over at her. "You sure seem to get a lot of stuff stuck or attached to you."

Shego looked at her and raised an eyebrow. "Do you mean like exploding collars that turned out to be not?"

Harley gave a nervous laugh. "Um, so what happened with the emotion chip thingy?"

"Just like I said. I was chasing Dr. D. all over the place and didn't try anything then either."

"Hmm. You were chasing him though. From the costume and the ball gag I would say Drakken's fantasy is to dominate a woman and control her. Even with your emotions being played with, would you have allowed him to treat you as an object and whip you?"

"Hell no." Shego said instantly. "I would have tied him up and had my way with him. In case you haven't noticed I'm not the type to roll over and let anyone have control over me."

"Except for Ron." Ivy said but softly.

Shego frowned at her. "Ron doesn't dominate me." Shego's frown slowly turned to a smirk. "Well we take turns dominating each other."

"In any case I can tell you what Drakken's current problem is. He's jealous. Ron is getting all the attention and action so he feels left out." Harley stated dropping into her 'professional shrink' voice.

Ivy nodded her head. "All men are that way. Put a couple of attractive women in a room with them and they all start beating their chests and act stupid trying to prove how manly they are."

"Except for Ron." Harley added echoing Ivy's earlier comment to Shego.

Ivy smiled and gave a brief nod. "Ron's a special case. He doesn't have to prove himself a man. The evidence on that fact is quite… Large." Ivy finished with a smirk and pushing her sunglasses back into place, she lay back down on the sand.

Harley leapt to her feet. "I wanna go for a swim. Come on Ivy, join me?"

Ivy merely pulled her sunglasses down once again and gave her a look as if to say, are you kidding?

Harley just shrugged and ran over to the man-made lake and dove in by herself.

Bonnie watched her for a moment. "I've noticed…Mistress Ivy that Mistress Harley when she gets in the sun starts to turn slightly….um…"

"Green like me?" Ivy prompted without rising up or turning in Bonnie's direction.

"Um, yeah. Why is that?"

Ivy sighed. "Harley was once partners with a man called The Joker." Bonnie noticed that Ivy's hands lying on the sand clenched into fists and she pushed herself up on her elbows to glance to make sure Harley was currently underwater swimming and couldn't overhear them. "He was and is a monster the likes you can't imagine. Harley was infatuated with him for some reason and let that clown use her like a doormat. He used to beat her regularly and more than a few times came close to killing her but that didn't hurt her nearly as much as when he would just kick her to the curb and tell her not to come back. Harley and I met for the first time on just such occurrence. One of the precious Joker's plans had failed and he had blamed the entire thing on Harley, so after he kicked her out Harley decided to rob a museum to get back into the Joker's good graces and that was where I met her." Ivy sighed again as Harley broke through the water and waited till the young woman had taken a deep breath and dove back under again before she continued. "I picked her up and took her back to my place and comforted her but when the Joker showed up, to steal what Harley had stolen, not for her, Harley went all doormaty over him again." Ivy watched Harley swim for a moment.

"And so it went for the longest time. The Joker would beat her and drive her off, she would come to me and I would patch her up and comfort her and she would go back."

Bonnie looked sadly at where Harley was swimming. "That's terrible."

Ivy shot Bonnie a look that she missed, almost as if saying this coming from a woman who turned to crime just to attract a man's attention? But she didn't say anything, Ron was about as far away from the Joker as a human could get and still be called the same species so Harley and Bonnie's situations weren't that similar. Ivy knew that no matter how intense Ron's and Bonnie's Master/slave role playing got, that Ron would rather die than let himself become a sadistic monster like the Joker was. Ivy resorted to just shrugging when Bonnie once again took her eyes off where Harley was swimming and glanced back at her.

"It was her choice. She could have left him but she kept going back for the abuse." A look of sadness crossed Ivy's face. "Then came that one night, the Joker had barely escaped the Batman and Joker blamed it on Harley…" Ivy watching Bonnie out of the corner of her eye saw her frown. "Batman is a type of vigilante crime fighter in our world and is the arch enemy of Joker. They have a very long and complicated relationship. Think Shego and Kim Possible but only about a thousand times more the hate." She explained.

Shego let out a snort as if to say she didn't think anyone could have anymore hate for each other than her and Kim.

"Anyway, the Joker decided this time to cross the line and out and out kill Harley and to send a message to me at the same time. He beat Harley to the very edge of death and then dumped her body in a trough and poured garbage all over her. Rotten fruits, vegetables and even rancid meat and had that mess dumped in front of the place I was using as a hideout. He left a note pinned to Harley's body. The note said. You can have my leftovers. Bon appetite."

Bonnie noticed that Ivy was clutching the sand so tightly her green tinted hands were now almost white.

"Harley had lost so much blood from her wounds I almost lost her." Ivy said that part so softly Bonnie almost missed it over the sighing of the wind over the sands. "The only way I could save her was by giving her a massive transfusion of my blood." Ivy looked over at Bonnie. "You see due to an 'accident' when I was younger, my blood has certain abilities. Having plants understand my commands is just one of them but more importantly for Harley's sake, my blood gives me very rapid healing. Oh that and immunity to most poisons and toxins, as well as enhanced strength and reflexes."

Bonnie glanced once again at Harley swimming in understanding. "And it makes your skin green?"

Ivy nodded her head. "You probably didn't notice the effect on Harley till today because she prefers to stay inside as much as she can." Ivy gave a soft laugh. "Even though we are lovers and share so much together, Harley has never been that much of an outdoorsy, nature type of person. She likes the neon lights and air conditioning of the modern world. We once took a trip to the Amazon and poor Harley was miserable." Ivy seemed to muse for a moment. "I guess it is true what they say, that opposites attract. In any case the effects on her skin grow stronger when she's in the sun for a while."

Bonnie nodded her head and then glanced over at Shego.

"Mine comes from being clobbered by a comet when I was a kid." Shego grunted. "The radiation from that rock messed up not only me but my whole family. I, however, was the only one 'lucky' enough to have their skin turn colors from it though."

Bonnie sat with her knees drawn up to her chest and stared at the water for a moment while Shego watched her. "You seem suddenly glum. Why?"

"I'm the only 'normal' one of our group." Bonnie quietly stated. "My skin is just normal old tan color and I have no special abilities or talents. It's no wonder that the Master left me behind that first time."

Harley had returned from her swim in time enough to hear Bonnie's complaint. "Hey, if it makes you feel any better, you are also the only one of us that can have children if you want them."

Bonnie blinked and looked to Shego for confirmation. Shego nodded her head. "Radiation destroyed my ability to give birth."

Ivy nodded her head. "The chemicals that made me this way also destroyed my ovaries."

Bonnie looked back to Harley. "The blood transfusion?"

Harley frowned realizing that Ivy must have told her about it while she was swimming. She hated people knowing how she used to follow the Joker around like a whipped puppy and what had happened to her in the past but since Bonnie was the newest member of their 'family' she shrugged it off. "It might have, except my reproductive organs were already damaged beyond repair from my time with Mr. J." She replied and added more softly. "You get kicked enough times; you have to pay the price."

"I'm sorry Mistress Harley."

Harley seemed genuinely surprised by her empathy. "Eh. No big deal. It might have been a blessing in disguise. If I had gotten knocked up by Mr. J., I would never have gotten away from him and considering that I finally found the other half of my soul, even if it took a while for it to get through my thick skull, I wouldn't have been able to have children anyway."

For a split second, Bonnie thought Harley meant Ron but only until Harley flopped down on the sand next to Ivy, bent over, and captured her lips in an intense kiss.

"I could always grow us some kids if you want to play mom." Ivy told Harley as she came up for air.

Harley suppressed a shiver. "Red, you know I love you with all my heart but those plant/human creatures you make give me the creeps."

Ivy just shrugged. "There was nothing wrong with them if I could have only found a way to keep them from aging and mutating. Hmm, perhaps I should ask that Mozenberg guy's advice? He seems to be on my level when it comes to gene splicing and manipulation, only more with humans than plants. Maybe he could come up with some ideas that I missed?"

Harley was now frowning. "How about not? He also gives me the creeps."

Shego pulled her sunglasses off to look over at Harley. "Mozenberg is a decent guy. He saved my ass more than once in the old days."

Harley held up a hand. "Hey, don't get me wrong Blackie. I'm sure he's a nice guy. It is just that German accent and all that weird equipment and experiments he's been doing in that room Ron gave him as his own…."

"He reminds you of Dr. Frankenstein?" Bonnie suddenly asked and then glanced down afraid she had angered her Mistress Shego.

Shego tilted her head slightly in agreement. "Okay, I'll admit. The first time I saw him I thought of that too."

"Just that one time?" Harley asked grinning a little. "Every time I see him I expect a hunchback dwarf is going to trail along after him going …Master, the weather is perfect this evening to bring the creature to life."

Shego looked over curiously at Harley. "Your dimension had the Frankenstein story too?"

"Oh yeah. Frankenstein, Dracula, Wolfman, Solomon Grundy." Harley counted on her fingers.

"Wait? Solomon Grundy?" Bonnie asked and looked to Shego.

"Got me. Never heard of that one."

"Oh? Hmmm. "Harley mused. "Must just be a legend in our dimension. It is really strange how similar our worlds are but at the same time how some of the small things that are different."

Bonnie having only briefly heard how Ivy and Harley had come from a different world via something called the Trans-dimensional Vortex Inducer leaned towards Harley and Ivy to hear more but suddenly stopped and shivered. Looking back, she spotted Drakken standing on the slight rise above them, watching them.

Without even turning her head, Shego suddenly said. "What is it Dr. D? What do you need?"

"Did you special order those parts and equipment like I asked you to?"

"Of course but I rooted the orders through several safe drops houses run by crooks I know. They'll unbox the items, repack them and ship them on, that way no one can trace the stuff back to us."

"But that will add needless delays!" Drakken whined.

"Chill out Dr. D. I had the stuff sent express delivery. The stuff should be ready for pickup at the last safe house today. I was going to go out this afternoon to get it."

"Excellent." Drakken muttered as he rubbed his hands together.

"Anything else?" Shego asked with a slight edge to her voice.

"Um, no. Nothing. Just enjoying the morning. The clean air… The sights." Drakken stated, his voice lowering slightly as he leered at the women lying on the beach in almost nothing.

"Dr. D?" Shego asked.

"Um, yes?"

"Run." Shego stated and without looking, tossed a plasma fire ball behind her.

Drakken's squawk of fear let them know he had run back to the gazebo and gone inside.

"The way he is always hovering over us, we need to get that guy a hooker or something." Harley muttered.

"Well can you blame him? Four gorgeous women having sex quite frequently and he's not getting any? It's bound to frustrate any man." Ivy said.

"That is why I say we should get him a hooker." Harley stated. "Maybe then he wouldn't be so blue?"

Bonnie turned to look at Shego lying next to her on the sand. "Why is he blue anyway? I've been dying to ask but didn't want to seem rude."

Shego frowned. "You know, I have never figured that out myself. There was one time when Kim and Ron foiled one of our plots and Drakken had gotten an Attitudinator used on him and had all his evil sucked out, his skin turned to normal looking so I always assumed it has something to do with him being 'evil'."

Shego hearing nothing but the wind whistling across the sand of the desert surrounding them and glanced up to see all the others staring at her if she suddenly had sprouted another head. "What?"

"He had a what used on him?" Harley asked.

"Oh that. Device called an Attitudinator. It was created by Henchco to help villains become more evil. It was suppose to take out the good in you and enhance your evilness. In that particular case, the device got damaged. Sucked out Drakken's evil and transferred it to Ron. In any case when Drakken became 'good' his skin lost its blue tint."

"Wait. Ronnnie was evil once before this time? Wish I had seen him then. I bet he was cute then as he is now." Harley said grinning.

Shego suppressed a shiver. "Not so much. For one thing his skin went blue like Drakken's and his 'evil' then was definitely different than he is now."

This drew Ivy's interest. "In what ways?"

"Well, for one he threatened to feed me to a shark." Shego said. Once again, a tiny shiver made itself known. Shego couldn't help but remember the maniacal glare and that stupid laugh that sent chills down her spine. No, her Ron of today was about as different from Zorpox as you could get and Shego once again vowed to herself that he would stay that way. She had no desire to see that particular blue skinned freak back again.

"A device that could suck evil out of a person and make them good?" Harley gave a shiver of her own. "What wouldn't the docs back at Arkham give for that toy, hey Ivy?"

Bonnie turned her attention back to Harley. "I've heard you and Ivy mention that name a few times since I've been here. What is Arkham?"

Harley with a large grin looked at Bonnie. "Why that is the nuthouse they locked up the 'criminally insane' in back in Gotham where me and Ivy come from." Harley put on her best crazy blank look on her face and then said. "I ask you, do me and Ivy look crazy to you?"

Bonnie became slightly uneasy, that is until Ivy reached out and slapped Harley on the leg. "Stop that."

Harley giggled and then lay face down on the sand beside Ivy before resting her chin on her hands and then proving she had a one track mind she suddenly said. "I still say we should see about that hooker for Drakken. Do him good. It can't be healthy for a guy to keep all that primal lust locked away all the time. Who knows how it might affect him?"

.

Drakken stomped through the interior of the underground house he was sharing with the rest, his hands alternately loosening and tightening into fists as he walked. He could just bet those women up on the beach above him were talking about him and making jokes. All his life it seemed women were either dominating him or laughing at him and he was sick of it. Once he took over the world, they wouldn't be laughing at him then. He would have more than his share of women then and they would stare at him with devotion and desire just like…just like… Drakken sighed. Just like the women in this house stare at the buffoon.

What did…. Drakken paused in his frantic pacing. What was his name again? Oh yeah. Ron something… "Ron Stoppable." Drakken suddenly blurted out loud. He was pleased with himself for remembering the buffoon's name but then remembered why he had been trying to remember it. Yes, what was it about Ron Stoppable that made him so much more desirable than he was? Was it the skin color? Drakken knew many women thought the blue was off putting but Drakken himself kind of liked it. Just like the small scar he had, it made him look dangerous. Made him unique and tough looking. At least that is what Drakken liked to tell himself.

Pausing in his unfocused walk, Drakken realized he had wandered until he found himself in the bedroom wing of the underground house. To be more precise he was outside the door of Harley Quinn's room. Everyone in the house had his or her own rooms. The underground mansion being so large there were plenty of rooms to go around. Not that Harley or Ivy spent much time in their individual rooms anyway. They either were with Ron in the TV viewing room or up in Ivy's greenhouse or with Shego in her room. Like most women in Drakken's experience, they didn't like to go anywhere by themselves but seemed to group together every chance they could get. The only woman Drakken had met that seemed different had been Shego. She used to be a confirmed loner and never was one of the 'crowd'. That is until she met Ivy and Harley. Once again, the mental fantasy of Ivy, Harley and Shego naked and writhing together entered Drakken's mind and without even realizing it, he had turned the knob to the door to Harley's room and entered.

The room was slightly garish in color, as Harley had redecorated it to her questionable tastes. Bright orange, blue and green splashes of paint covered the walls in no definable pattern. Green not surprising considering how infatuated she was with Ivy was the most predominating color. A low table not unlike the work table in Drakken's own room occupied one wall, piled high on the table were various boxes and bits of equipment. To Drakken's eye, it looked like the woman had been building a Jack in the Box of some type. Tiny cartridges of the type that held the party streamers like she had used in the casino heist were also among the debris on the table along with what looked like several whoopee cushions.

A large queen bed was in the middle of the room with a floral light green bedspread on it and it was the only non cluttered thing in the room. It looked to Drakken's eyes that Harley hardly if ever slept on the bed. Mental images of Harley and Bonnie in cheerleader costumes making out on the bed caused Drakken to almost groan in suppressed lust.

"_Damn it, everything is that damn Harley's fault",_ Drakken thought to himself. From what he had heard, it had been due to her manipulations that Shego and Stoppable had joined together and then Harley had been the one to convince Ivy and Shego into letting the boy into their group orgies and it was usually Harley that walked around the house half dressed, tempting poor Drew half out of his mind with lust. Drakken found himself breathing deeply as he remembered the times Harley had walked into the kitchen wearing nothing but pigtails, panties and a loose fitting crop top shirt.

Forcing himself to turn from her bed he found himself in front of the dresser in Harley's room, Drakken had just about convinced himself to get the hell out of there before he got caught, but he couldn't resist sticking out one boot and 'casually' catching it on the edge of the bottom drawer of the dresser and pulling it out.

As the drawer slowly slid out, Drakken could see it contained some very erotic looking lingerie and some quite imaginative toys. Leather, lace and even some fishnet stockings were revealed. Losing control for a second at all the forbidden treats revealed, Drakken's boot twitched causing him to pull on the drawer too hard, the result being the drawer pulled all the way out of the dresser to land with a dull bump on the floor.

Jumping at the slight sound Drakken peered around the room as if afraid Harley, Ivy or Shego would suddenly appear and pound him into paste for being a pervert. Drakken slowly shook his head at himself. How low he had become, taking to peeking into a lady's lingerie drawer for a cheap thrill? God he needed a cold shower or something. Perhaps he could invent anti-viagra to help with the constant state of arousal he seemed to be in lately.

Dropping to his knees, he meant to pick up the drawer and return it to the dresser before he really did get caught in such a compromising position and the women took to using his carcass as a piñata. As Drakken lifted the drawer to put it back, he glanced into the interior of the dresser and suddenly paused. In the base of the dresser near the back, normally covered by the drawer now in Drakken's hands was a silver canister, a canister that Drakken recognized quite easily.

"The Trans-dimensional Vortex Inducer. So that is where that vixen hid it." Drakken breathed to himself.

Reaching into the dresser's base, Drakken carefully lifted the device out. "With my soon to be improved Bebe robots I will easily take over this world but why settle for one world when you can have more?"

Putting the drawer back into place and making sure nothing else in the messy room had been disturbed, Drakken placed the Trans-dimensional Vortex Inducer under the stylish men's jacket he was wearing and eased himself from Harley's room. With luck, Harley wouldn't notice the missing Inducer. Quickly rushing back to his room with his prize under his jacket, Drakken hid the device.

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Ron with a frown exited the TV room, once again, commercials bemoaning the plight of starving children in Africa had been playing and Ron could no longer ignore the urgency of their need. Today would be the day he went to the weather control machine lot and purchase the necessary machine to aid in his plans to feed those children. Shego had advised him to wait a month or two before making any huge purchases, just in case Global Justice was looking for large transactions just like that, but Ron was going to have to risk it being just one month. He could no longer stand thinking about hungry children suffering when he could do something about it.

Entering the main living room Ron watched an oblivious looking Drakken pace past him. Ron had thought for a moment that he had heard Drakken mention his name but since the blue skinned man hadn't paused in his path but continued onward Ron decided he had been mistaken.

Walking over to the elevator that led to the surface Ron decided to tell Shego his decision that they would go weather machine shopping today instead of waiting. He remembered Shego mentioning something about picking up the machinery that Drakken had requested they order for some kind of experiment. Considering that Ron felt the money they had stolen belonged to all of them, he really couldn't begrudge Drakken some equipment, especially if it got the older man out of the funk he seemed to be in lately. Ron had okayed the transaction when Shego had came to him to ask if he thought it was all right. They of course were careful in ordering what they needed over the internet to make sure Wade couldn't trace it back to them.

Since Shego had to go out to pick up the equipment, they would kill two birds with one stone and purchase the weather control machine at the same time.

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As the elevator rose to the surface and Ron made his way out of the gazebo he paused. Closing his eyes, he mentally extended his senses and there it was again, a feeling, a trace, almost as if Ron was catching a familiar scent on the breeze. Ron had noticed the strange feelings after their return from the casino heist but try as he might he couldn't identify what he was picking up. Using his Mystical Monkey abilities, he was able to clearly sense Shego, Bonnie, Ivy and Harley lying on the beach a few yards away and even farther away Ron could pick up the slight itchy feeling on his skin that he identified with the ninjas watching over him. The two stealth warriors were on the opposite side of the island away from the women on the beach. Not just to give them some privacy but also to avoid their accidentally discovering them. They still being unaware that Ivy's plants had informed her about them being there. Feeling almost as if something had lightly brushed against his Mystical Monkey senses before disappearing once again, Ron frowned. What was he picking up?

It was almost like walking into a crowded room filled with smells and detecting for just a moment a rare flower's scent. Ron's frown turned to a rueful smile. Being around Ivy for such a long time he had translated the unique mental 'sense' he was picking up into a flower analogy but it was a good one never the less. The 'feeling' was similar to scenting a flower one hadn't smelled in a while.

"_Okay, if it's a flower, what kind of flower would it be?" _Ron mentally questioned himself. _"Definitely something unusual, something rare and unique, something like…"_ "A lotus blossom." Ron suddenly said out loud and opened his eyes.

Turning he looked in the direction the faint sense was coming from but it was gone instantly and Ron could detect nothing with his eyes. Since the 'feeling/scent' had come from the direction the ninjas were, perhaps they were practicing some new stealth technique and that was what Ron was picking up on. Strange that two male ninjas would give off a 'scent' of a lotus blossom though. Searching with his mind a few moments longer Ron finally gave a shrug and went down the beach to where the women were sun bathing.

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Yori squirmed/slithered up the sand dune a few centimeters until she could look over the large rock hiding her from Ron's view. Being an advanced student/operative, Yori could cloak her presence much better than the ninjas that had been assigned to watch over Ron could but even she had trouble blocking Ron from finding her when he concentrated on searching with his mental abilities as he had a moment ago.

Just the slightest brush of Ron's energy/Ki on Yori's had enflamed the young ninja's desire and she wanted nothing more than just stand up so Ron would discover her and hopefully rush into her arms. However, Yori knew that such a fantasy could be disastrous. Yori had noted how Shego while being slightly accepting of the new addition of Bonnie to their group had still watched the young woman like a hawk and tried to make sure she was never alone with Ron at any time. This lead Yori to decide that if she were to reveal herself, that Shego might try to keep her away from Ron and would end in Ron having to choose between Shego and her. And deep in her heart, Yori knew Ron would choose Shego. So Yori watched and waited with her fellow ninjas for the proper moment to make her presence known, preferably to just Ron.

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Once again Bonnie felt the sensation of someone's eyes on her but unlike a short while ago when it had been Drakken and she had felt a crawling sensation, this time it was one of warmth. Sitting up from where she had been lying on a towel next to Shego on the beach she glanced over her shoulder and spied Ron standing on the slight rise above them.

"Master." She greeted him happily.

Her greeting caused Shego, Ivy and Harley to rise from their various prone positions to look up at him. Considering that Harley Quinn had been lying face down on the sand and had untied her top so has to avoid tan lines caused her to accidentally or perhaps not so accidentally to flash him. Ron promptly blushed and looked away.

Shego pulling off her sunglasses slowly shook her head, perhaps partially for Harley's antics but also for Ron's odd sense of chivalry and shyness, considering the activities that all of them had done in the past and would do again soon in the future; it was silly of him to constantly look away when Harley managed to arrange for moments like this, especially when it was obvious that Harley not only didn't care if he looked, she loved it when he did.

"Hey Ron, what's up?" Shego asked.

"Ron." Ivy greeted him and then turned back to her sun worship.

"Roooooonnieee!" Harley shouted and waved her arm vigorously as if trying to flag down a taxi or direct a landing airplane, the actions causing her chest to jiggle and sway.

Ron is spite of himself found himself staring. Finally, he said. "Do you have any inhibitions at all in that body Harley?"

Harley made a great pretense of placing a finger to her lips as if in deep concentration. "I don't know. Wanna come down here and explore and see if we can find one?" She then batted her eyelashes at him.

"Ouch!" Harley said as Ivy once again slapped her lightly on the leg.

"Will you behave for more than thirty seconds?" Ivy asked her.

Once again, Harley put a finger to her lip as if considering. "Gee, I don't know Red that is an awful long time. Can we make it ten seconds instead?"

Ivy merely looked over the edge of her sunglasses at her. "You wouldn't make that time limit either I bet."

As Ivy and Harley continued to mock debate the extent of Harley's ability to restrain herself, Ron walked down the slight decline to where Shego was. As he neared Bonnie got up and moved slightly so Ron could sit down next to Shego but as soon as he sat down she moved as close to him as she thought she could get away with and lay on the sand looking up at him adoringly.

Shego glanced at Ron in question before answering her own unspoken question out loud. "You want to go after that weather machine today don't you?"

Ron smiled one of his endearing goofy grins. "You know me so well."

Shego let a brief smile cross her face as well. "No, I just know that once action gets into your blood it is hard to sit still…" She raised a hand to stop Ron from speaking. "And I know you well enough to know that the thought there is someone out there hurting and you could be doing something about it is driving you crazy. We'll go get the weather machine today. But you do know it will still take a few days for us to slowly fill it with water to make the rains? If we do it your way and fill it from the ocean and purify the water that is, we can always go for Drakken's quick and dirty method of draining a few lakes?"

Ron shook his head. "No, that would only alert Global Justice that we are up to something. We'll do the ocean method and take a little more time."

Shego nodded her head and started to rise to go down and get dressed but was stopped as Ron pulled her back down into his arms. "I didn't say I was so impatient to get started that we had to leave right this second did I?"

As Ron kissed Shego, Bonnie looked on and tried to not be jealous of the attention Ron was paying Shego.

.

Kim Possible's house, Middletown:

An exhausted Kim lay on the couch of her living room, ever since seeing Ron with Shego at that casino Kim suffered from extreme insomnia. Every time she closed her eyes she saw the sight of a deeply disappointed Ron staring at her with glowing blue eyes right before he used his powers on her.

"_I suppose I would be more comfortable if I were to go up to bed."_ Kim thought to herself as she stared up at the ceiling of her living room but the very thought of lying in a bed she could have, would have, shared with Ron if she hadn't been so stupid as to think she was too 'perfect' for him haunted her more than the thought Ron had attacked her.

"_How could Ron have turned on me so much?" _Kim pondered to herself.

Suddenly she realized the very couch she was lying on was the same one she had pleasured herself on while a drugged Ron was forced to watch her. Leaping to her feet, she shuddered and looked at the couch as if it was suddenly some kind of loathsome monster. Once again, Kim shuddered violently. The loathsome monster in the room wasn't the innocent couch; no, she was the loathsome monster. How could she have done that to her best friend, to a man she knew loved her with all his soul. To make love to herself while telling him that he was unworthy of her?

As tears started to fall from her eyes, Kim fell into the chair Ron had been in that day. The chair he had happily picked out for himself so long ago when he thought he had been moving into his and Kim's dream home to live happily ever after. A chair he had been forced to leave behind when Kim had basically thrown him to the curb and told him to get out.

Kim began to sob nearly hysterically as she realized that she had had a love most people could only dream about and she had thrown it away all because she thought she was too perfect for it.

Feeling a hand come to rest on her shoulder Kim looked up and cried. "Ron?"

As the tears in her eyes cleared, Kim could see that it was not Ron touching her shoulder but her own mother.

"Mom?" Kim said as she hastily tried to wipe away the tears in her eyes.

"Oh Kimmie." Mrs. Possible replied before taking her daughter into her arms to comfort her.

"What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be at work?" Kim managed to get out after sobbing a few times in her mother's arms.

Mrs. Possible continued to stroke Kim's hair as she held her. "The hospital has other trained surgeons that can do my job just as well as I can but there is one job only I can do and that is comfort my hurting daughter."

Kim continued to weep tears and didn't even realize when somehow her mother had gotten into the chair she had been lying curled up in and Kim found herself sitting on her mother's lap as she rocked her back and forth. "Kimmie, tell me what happened the day Ron left."

"I told you mom." Kim sniffled. "I asked him to leave because I didn't think we were getting along."

"Kimmie." Mrs. Possible said, still in a soft voice but with just a hint of steel in it. "I don't mean when Ron moved out of this house. I mean the day Ron disappeared and became a wanted criminal."

Kim's eyes grew wide. "I can't mom. Please don't make me tell you. Tell you what I did to Ron."

Ann Possible continued to rock her daughter back and forth. "Kimmie, tell me. Please. It is obviously killing you inside and you need to get it out."

Ever so slowly and brokenly, Kim began to sob out what happened that day. From using the control lipstick she had found in her pocket on Ron to how she had pleasured herself in front of him while she basically taunted him with how imperfect he was and how he was unworthy of her.

Kim finally fell silent after her long held confession and waited several long moments to hear her mother's condemnation of her, when she heard nothing she cried. "You hate me now don't you? Don't deny it. I know you loved Ron as if he was your son and I spit in his face and turned him to a life of crime." Not being able to take the silence any longer, she turned to look into her mother's face and saw that the older woman was silently crying as well.

"I don't hate you KImmie. I could never hate you. I blame myself for what has happened, me and your damn father for always telling you that you were better than everyone else was and that anything was possible for a Possible. We didn't know it at the time but we were setting you and Ron up for this just as surely as if we had written a script for you two to act out. I've helped to destroy both of my children."

"Mom that's not true! You are the most supportive mother any child could ever have! What other mother would let her daughter go out and save the world on a regular basis?"

"Not really helping there Kimmie. That's just the point. What kind of parent allows their children to put themselves at risk over and over again? I was a horrible parent! I helped you to build an ivory tower that isolated you from everyone, even the boy who knew and loved you from pre-school. I basically forced you into isolation and loneliness and not only ruined your life but that of Ron as well."

Now it was time for Kim's voice to take a note of steel in it. "No mom, stop saying that! I was the one who screwed up my and Ron's life. I was the one who was so busy telling myself that I could do anything that I forgot the one thing I should have been doing and that was being caring and loyal to my best friend and then my boyfriend Ron."

Kim gave a sad shaky laugh. "You know what is really pathetic? All those years in high school when I thought Bonnie was such a thorn in my side. I should have listened to that thorn and realized all she was trying to tell me was that no matter what skills or talents I had, no matter how many days I saved the world that I was still only human and I wasn't nearly as perfect as I thought I was."

Kim gave another shaky tear filled laugh. "I just realized. Drakken used to tell me that I thought I was all that but I wasn't. How scary is it when the two people in my life that saw through me and could figure out what I was thinking were Bonnie and Dr. Drakken?"

The two women held each other as they continued to cry.

"I'm going to get him back mom. I promise you that I'm going to bring Ron back, for both of us. We've been through far too much between Ron and I for it to end this way. And I know you think of him as your son-in-law if not just out and out your own son. I'm going to find a way to win him back and then spend the rest of my life trying to get him to forgive me for what I've done to him all these years. To make him forget…"

Kim looked over at the couch neither one of them were sitting on. "Make him forget what I did to him that day."


	23. Chapter 23

Partners in Crime

By Weirdbard

Chapter 23

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Bonnie stood forlorn on the beach and watched as Ron, Shego and Drakken flew off in the hover ship on their errands to retrieve some kind of equipment for Drakken and to purchase a weather machine for Ron's master plan, of which Bonnie knew next to nothing about. Sure, she had been with them for over a month and had literally absorbed almost religiously every word that came out of Ron's mouth but she felt being Ron's slave, it wasn't her place to question him on his criminal master plans. She knew the plan had something to do with starving kids, weather and some kind of strange plant that Ivy had created but that was all. Evidentially the others already knew what Ron's plans were so they casually would drop mentions of it here and there but never enough for Bonnie to see the whole picture.

Bonnie desperately didn't want to separate from Ron and had nearly begged him to let her go with him but Shego had put her foot down. Shego stated that they were going to have to leave the hover ship with Drakken to carry his precious equipment back in, while her and Ron would have to pilot the new weather machine back. Shego went on to further explain that while she had piloted a weather machine with Drakken once before, she wasn't what she considered skilled in it and on the off chance that for some reason Global Justice was watching the weather machine lot and they had to make a quick getaway she didn't want any distractions, I.E. meaning Bonnie tagging along.

"So just what the Hell am I supposed to do till they get back?" Bonnie asked no one. Ivy and Harley had retired to Ivy's greenhouse and considering they were practically trying to remove each other's tonsils with their tongues as they went, Bonnie knew exactly what they would be doing and she didn't want to be a part of it, even though Harley had patted her on the butt and made some kind of lewd statement about how Bonnie had yet to visit Ivy's 'flower bed'. No, Bonnie knew she would be more than welcomed to join the two women but she just wasn't that comfortable with the idea or them yet.

Heck, Bonnie still wasn't all that comfortable with the fact that Shego insisted she always be present when her and her Master Ron 'played'. Bonnie knew coming into this that she would have to get used to the other women in Ron's life but she never dreamed that Shego wouldn't leave her and Ron alone for even a few minutes by themselves.

"It's almost like she is afraid I will steal him away from her." Bonnie said out loud, as she continued to watch the direction the hover ship was flying off in, that was until they activated the cloaking field and it disappeared from view. Being alone, Bonnie allowed the faintest of smirks to cross her face. "It is true that I was Ron's first and they say you never forget your first time." Bonnie's smirk faded a moment later however. "Even if our first time together I had to basically tie the boy down and practically rape him." Bonnie added in a softer voice. "I sure hope Ron just remembers how good the sex was that night and not the fact I had to tie him up to get it."

Finally, reluctantly, Bonnie returned to the underground home. The beach was quiet and seemingly abandoned for a moment before a female shaped ninja figure appeared from some large boulders near the water's edge. A moment later, two other ninjas but this time obviously male came out from behind the same boulders.

"She raped him?!" Yori practically growled as she angrily pulled off her hood to reveal her face. Her soft brown eyes practically burning in rage. "Ron-san's first time was an act of force?" She whirled around to face her fellow two ninjas. "You! You two were assigned to watch over Stoppable! Were you on duty when this filthy act by a dishonorable woman happened?!"

Even though the ninjas still had their face masks on, you could tell by the way they glanced at one another that they were thinking. "Oh shit."

The slightly large of the two stepped forward. "Yori-sensei, we are breaking cover like this. Please to be returning to the cover of our hiding place and we will calmly discuss this."

Yori took the several steps it took to reach him and fisting the front of his uniform, she actually lifted the man off of his feet a few inches. "As you just pointed out, I am the senior member here. You take your instructions and orders from me. Now as your acting sensei just asked you a question, I expect an answer. Were you two on duty the night that filthy dishonorable whore violated my Ron-san!" Yori said shaking the man slightly.

The ninja shot his companion a glace as if begging for help before looking down at the obviously enraged Yori. "Um, yes?"

Yori's face grew hard.

"We were under orders to not interfere in Stoppable-san's life! To just observe and report. And it was a long time ago." The other ninja quickly added.

"I do not care if it was years ago or yesterday! I cannot believe you were ordered to do nothing even when his life is being endangered?" Yori asked.

"Endangered? I just thought the chosen one was just getting lucky." The second ninja whispered to himself. Unfortunately, he was heard by Yori.

Yori shoved/flung the first ninja from her and he landed on one of the boulders with a grunt as Yori turned her attention to the second. "Excuse me?" She asked in a deceptively calm voice.

The second ninja raised his hands in front of him defensively. "An attractive young woman snuck into the chosen one's house one night. How were we supposed to know that it wasn't a planned rendezvous?"

Yori took a few steps toward him. "And the chosen one had other visits with her after that!" The ninja said backing up. "How were we to know that the chosen one wasn't just into kinky sex?"

Yori turned away from him to stare at the gazebo that was the entrance to the underground home and took a few steps in that direction.

"Yori-sensei." The ninja she had manhandled called out. "Our orders are to only observe the chosen one, not to interfere."

Yori shot him a look over her shoulder. "Your orders maybe to only observe but I was instructed to follow Kim Possible until she found Ron-san and then to prevent her from interfering and after that I was free to join with Ron-san at my discretion. I was willing to keep my presence from Ron-san and the others as I waited for a proper time to inform Ron-san that I am here but I was uninformed that this Bonnie person had abused the chosen one! It is no wonder that my Ron-san has ended up as the plaything to so many women." Yori turned to look back at the gazebo. "Obviously what this Bonnie person and Kim Possible have done has damaged my poor Ron-san to such an extent that he is confused and blindly searching for love."

The two male ninjas once again shared a look without any words being spoken but any onlooker would have been able to interpret what they were thinking. They were thinking they wished that they were as confused as the Chosen One was and had multiple hot women seeking to please them. Unfortunately for them, Yori took that moment to glance back at them and witnessed the look.

Yori turned to fully face them with an icy glare. "You have something you wish to say?" She asked deadly calm.

The larger ninja decided to be the one to risk speaking their thoughts. "What will you do Yori-sensei? Challenge this Bonnie person? What of the other two women that are here? Do you plan to fight them all? What will the Chosen One say or think when he returns to find that you have injured those in his care." The ninja picked his next words with great care. "I beg you to meditate on what you have found out and not to react in haste. While this Bonnie person may have initiated her… Um, sexual experiences with the Chosen One by force, it is obvious the dynamic between them has changed a great deal. You have heard her many times refer to him as Master since she's been here. Perhaps things have changed between them?"

Yori folded her arms across her chest in a manner, which no matter what the culture was it was a sign of a woman being annoyed and irritated. "I shall continue to observe her interactions with the Chosen One but if I decide at any time that she maybe a danger to Ron-san, whether physical or emotional, that woman shall disappear."

The taller ninja nodded his head and he and his partner gave Yori some space as she returned to their hiding place on the island.

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Bonnie wandered through the living room area of the underground house as she tried to think of some way of distracting herself from her thoughts of her absent Master, and the thought that he was alone with Shego. Finally, Bonnie decided a nap would do her good and started for the bedroom area. Reaching the hallway of doors that lead to the bedrooms of the people in the house, she realized that even after spending an entire month with them, she still didn't know which bedroom belonged to Ron. Shego always somehow found a reason to 'escort' Bonnie to her room before she or Ron retired for the evening and Bonnie's room was at the first door in the corridor. What rooms lay beyond hers she hadn't had a chance yet to find out.

"_I wonder if the Master keeps his room as messy as it was that first night I came to him?"_ Bonnie thought with a smile. A smile that faded to a frown as the very naughty thought of finding Ron's room, just for a quick peek of course entered her mind.

Bonnie suspected that if she was caught prowling around the bedrooms it wouldn't set well with any of the others but Bonnie was desperate to get even closer to her master than she already was. She wanted to be the one that Ron first looks to, not Shego!

Just a quick look was all she wanted, that and maybe to lie down on Ron's bed for just a moment? And maybe to grab something that carried Ron's unique scent, just to keep her company those nights when she had to sleep alone in her bedroom?

Finally making up her mind, Bonnie quietly tip-toed through the hallway, she knew Ivy and Harley were busy up in the greenhouse section and probably wouldn't come down for hours but there was still that Dr. Mozenberg in one of the rooms. The man rarely came out except for meals so the chance of him catching her in the hallway was slim but there was also the fact that Bonnie wasn't really sure which room belonged to him either. Moving slowly Bonnie placed her ear against one door and then another. Finally, she located Mozenberg's room as she heard the man talking to his machine. Bonnie listened for a moment, just to make sure she was right and heard the man cooing and saying things to his machine that made Bonnie's eyes grow wide and she quickly move away from his door.

"I'm sure Dr. Frankenstein never talked to his creation that way." Bonnie muttered to herself as she moved away, making reference to the earlier talk with the other women about how Mozenberg and Frankenstein had so much in common.

"Now which room would most logically be Ron's?" Bonnie smiled as she saw the corridor, which curved slightly ended at a distant door. Surely, that door being the last one must be Ron's room. Sneaking down the hallway Bonnie listened for a moment at the door and then opening it, she slipped into the room.

Closing the door behind her softly, Bonnie turned around to find a messy and cluttered room but it wasn't cluttered with clothes like Ron's room way back then had been. This room had electronic components and equipment all over the place. A small work table along one wall had various diagrams and blueprints piled on it. Bonnie having already given in to her curiosity, decided to see what the blueprints were of. Walking over she pulled the first blueprint up and looked at it. The design looked to be some kind of technical diagram of a woman's body. It didn't make much sense to Bonnie so she reached for another one to take a look but this one was weighted down by something. Taking her attention off the blueprint in her hand, Bonnie glanced down and saw the object weighing down the blueprint she was trying to pick up was the hunk of rock she had stolen for Shego from the museum. The Luna Stone.

Which meant…. She wasn't in Ron's room. She had to be in Dr. Drakken's room. Bonnie paled. It didn't take the writer of a soap opera or horror story to see the bad possible outcomes from this. If Drakken was to get back early and find her in his room, he could use it as blackmail material on her to force her to do whatever he asked or he would tell the others she had been prowling and get her kicked out. Quickly replacing the blueprints Bonnie made a dash for the door to get out before anyone could catch her in Drakken's room and almost instantly, she tripped over some heavy electronic thingamajig that was lying on the floor near the bed, a large round ball like object that had a ring of electronic circuits around its edge.

"Oh crap!" Bonnie cried out. "If I've broken something important the group is going to kick me out I just know it!"

Bonnie bent over the device and tried to carefully examine it. "Did I break it?" She asked herself.

"Negative. Bebe hive mind is non-damaged and fully functional." A voice Bonnie recognized with a chill came from the orb.

"Oh shit! You are one of those Bebe things!" Bonnie said backing away from the object so quickly she stumbled and landed on her butt a few feet away from it. When no robotic metal women zipped into view to grab her, Bonnie inched forward to stare at the object. A large round object appeared just under the surface of the orb and rotated till it was in Bonnie's direction. Bonnie got the sudden feeling of staring at a large eye watching her back. A feeling that was strengthened as she tried to move away and the round object moved as it tracked her.

"Information query. Designate individual please." The orb suddenly spoke scaring Bonnie again.

"Um, are you asking who I am?" Bonnie asked after thinking for a moment.

"Affirmative."

"You don't remember me?" Bonnie asked suspiciously. "You once kidnapped me and tried to make me your queen."

"Negative. If such actions were taken in the past, they were those of a previous Bebe hive mind. This hive mind has no record of you or a designation. Please state designation." The voice was quiet a moment before adding. "Who are you?"

Bonnie briefly thought about leaping to her feet and racing out of Drakken's room but the Bebe had already 'seen' her. Surely, it could give a perfect description of her to Drakken so she might as well face the music and see if she could talk her way out of this.

"My name is Bonnie Rockwaller." She told the hive mind.

"Do you serve the Leader?" The hive mind next asked.

"Yes, yes I do." Bonnie replied thinking the robotic mind meant Ron.

"Did the leader send you in to provide us with data?" The orb spoke and this time Bonnie thought she almost detected a trace of longing and desperation in the droning metallic voice.

Bonnie shook her head but then thought better of it and answered verbally. "No. Ron didn't send me in; as a matter of fact, I would appreciate it if you do not tell anyone I was in here. I kind of accidentally found my way…"

"Who or what is the Ron designation you have used?"

"Ron… Ron Stoppable. You know, the leader?"

"There is no identification data for someone known as Ron Ron Stoppable." The Bebe hive mind replied instantly. "The Leader is Dr. Drakken. He is the best leader."

Bonnie couldn't stop the snort of derision.

"Please explain the loud expulsion of air you just made."

"Um, no offense, but Dr. Drakken is not the best leader. Ron is." Bonnie told the machine.

"Explain the protocols you have utilized in affixing the designation of Leader to Ron Ron Stoppable rather than to Dr. Drakken."

Bonnie thought for a second. "Are you asking me why I think Ron is a better leader than Dr. Drakken? Oh and it's just Ron Stoppable, one Ron not two."

"Change of designation has been noted. Answer to query is affirmative. Why do you think Ron Stoppable is a better leader than Dr. Drakken?"

Bonnie thought a moment as she tried to explain in words what made Ron so much better than Drakken. "Um, a good leader is one that has a set mission goal in mind. Nothing vague but a concrete goal he is trying to reach."

The Bebe hive mind hummed but didn't reply so Bonnie continued. "A good leader while always keeping the goal in mind will not sacrifice a team member to accomplish that goal. He won't leave an injured member behind just because he wants to reach his goal."

"Negative. This is faulty logic. The individual units in a collective are disposable as long as a mission objective is reached."

"I disagree." Bonnie replied. "If a leader is willing to sacrifice anyone, then he is wasting um, potential resources. And how can a wasteful leader be a good leader?"

Bebe hive mind hummed for a moment as it considered Bonnie argument.

"A good leader is one that is willing to take the same risks he asks others to make."

"Negative. The leader must be protected at all times. "

"A leader that hides behind the lines and has to wait for reports to come into him on what is happening is a poor leader." Bonnie argued. "A leader has to have accurate and timely information to make his decisions, correct? Therefore he has to be on the front lines with everyone else, no?"

The hive mind hummed for a moment.

"And finally I believe a good leader has to have compassion. He has to feel for others and have a kind heart or he is not a leader but a dictator and dictators can never be good leaders."

"Explain logic."

"Well a dictator, one who only destroys those that get in their way may stop them but he will end up angering others. But a really good leader finds a way to convince those against him that he is right and ends up with them as allies." Bonnie paused for a second. "Did that make any sense?"

The Bebe hive mind hummed for a moment. "Are you stating that those who eliminate their enemies, in the end only generate more enemies? And thusly those that convert their enemies to their way of perception only increase their potential resources they may require at a later time designation?"

Now it was Bonnie's turn to think. "I think so?"

"You have given this Bebe hive mind much to think upon. Thank you."

"Um, any time?" Bonnie replied weakly. "Um is there anything else I can do for you?"

"Affirmative. That cable access point on the wall to the southeast. Is it a broadband communication termination port?"

Bonnie turned to look at one wall but couldn't see what the Bebe was referring to.

"No. You have turned your perception units to the northwestern direction." The Bebe hive mind stated.

Looking in the opposite direction, Bonnie quickly spotted the tale-tell end of a cable sticking out of the wall. "Yes. That cable is used for TV but it also serves for cable modems to access the internet."

"Please move this Bebe unit closer to broadband access point and connect this Bebe hive mind to the internet."

"Um, I don't think I can do that." Bonnie answered nervously. "You see if I move you or pull the cable to you, Drakken will know someone has been in his room. And he may not want you to have internet access either. I mean if he wanted you to acquire um, data on your own he would have hooked you up, right? "

The Bebe hive mind hummed for a few moments and Bonnie watched as various lights flashed and flared inside the orb like structure as the Bebe hive mind 'thought'. "Bebes are to be superior. To be superior one requires data."

Bonnie nodded her head. She couldn't argue that one. "Knowledge is power." She agreed.

"Affirmative. The Leader wants Bebes to be superior; therefore the Leader wants Bebes to have access to data."

"So why didn't your leader hook you up then?" Bonnie replied.

The Bebe hive mind hummed for a moment but had no answer. Finally it spoke. "On the assembly table, do you see the small black object? It is exactly 12 degrees off the exact center of the table."

Bonnie looked over at the table strewn with blueprints and electronic equipment and quickly spotted the matchbox sized object they Bebe hive mind had mentioned. "Yeah I see it. What is it?"

"It is a micro wireless internet router. Attach it to the cable. Bebe hive mind is equipped with wireless capabilities so Bebe hive mind can be in communication with individual Bebe bodies, when such bodies are supplied."

"I'm still not sure…." Bonnie started to reply.

"If the Leader did not wish Bebe hive mind to have internet access, then why did the leader create a micro wireless router?"

Bonnie didn't have an answer for that.

"Well that maybe true but I think we should let Dr. Drakken hook you up if that is what he…" Bonnie said as she started backing towards the door.

"If Bonnie Rockwaller will connect the micro wireless router to cable access point this Bebe hive mind will not find it necessary to mention your intrusion into the Leader's room."

Bonnie froze like a deer caught in headlights. "Are you…. Blackmailing me into hooking you up to the internet?"

This Bebe hive mind does not understand the term….Blackmailing."

"It means threatening to use information you have on someone if they fail to do what you want them to." Bonnie explained folding her arms across her chest.

"Then yes, this Bebe hive mind is blackmailing Bonnie Rockwaller."

Bonnie's jaw dropped open and she stared in shock at the glowing 'beach ball'. Finally, she sighed. Picking up the small black box, she walked over to where the cable was coming out from the wall and quickly screwed the device on to the end of the cable. "Happy now?" She asked.

"Bebe hive mind in data acquisition mode. Shutting down verbal communications." The round object on top of the orb slowly rotated away from 'looking' at Bonnie and dozens and dozens of lights flickered and flashed inside the orb as the Bebe hive mind happily began acquiring data.

"Hey! Wait a minute. Do you promise not to tell Dr. Drakken I was in here since I did as you asked me to?" Bonnie demanded of the hive mind. The hive mind however didn't reply.

"I can't believe I've been blackmailed by a machine!" Bonnie stomped her foot in annoyance. Reaching for the door to Drakken's room, she muttered nervously out loud to herself. "I really hope hooking Bebe up to the internet doesn't cause anyone problems later on."

.

Dr. Philstein's office with Kim.

.

Kim Possible fidgeted on the couch in Dr. Philstein's office as she waited to see what his reaction to her statement would be. It had taken her mother hours of pleading on the day she had found Kim crying in her house but finally Kim had agreed to tell the doctor what had transpired on the day Ron had left. Kim had thought after confessing to her mother that it would be 'no big' to tell the doctor but it had taken everything in her to finally break down and admit what a monster she had been to Ron that day.

The doctor calmly kept all his thoughts from showing on his face as he considered what to say to his patient. He had had some idea that what had Kim had done had involved sex, after all that was about the only thing the opinionated red head had trouble talking about, so her refusing before to even consider talking to him about the day Ron became a criminal was a good indication it was sexual in nature. No Dr. Philstein was not that surprised, well maybe about the lipstick mind control part but what Kim had done afterwards wasn't that surprising.

"So… Doctor? Do you think I can ever get Ron to forgive me and come back to me?" Kim not being able to stand the silence any longer tentatively asked.

"I'm not going to sugar coat it for you Miss Possible. It is possible what you have done is one more dog whooping than that old hound could take."

Kim looked at him blankly for a moment before sighing. "Okay, I'll admit it. You lost me on that one."

"What I'm trying to say is, from all the things I've learned about Mr. Stoppable, the one thing I can clearly deduce from it is, he has trust issues a mile long. His parents rarely ever talked to him, they would make universal choices affecting his life and at the last moment would spring them on him. In school, teachers that should have guided and helped him along seemed to do nothing but watch for him to make the tiniest of slip ups before pouncing on him. He went on missions with you to help people and nine times out of ten they wouldn't even remember his name later, all this adds up to a man desperately trying to find that one person he could put all his trust and belief into…"

"And that one person, meaning me, betrayed him in the worst possible way." Kim said in a small voice.

The doctor nodded his head. "Afraid that is about the size of it."

"And that sent poor Ron looking to find someone else he could put his trust and devotion into and my luck the first woman he runs into had to be the conniving back stabbing criminal Shego." Kim added bitterly. "She's only using him to further her plans and once Ron has served his purpose she'll destroy him."

The doctor leaned back in his chair. "Now it maybe more complicated than that. I can't make any observations based on him or this Shego person since I've never met them…."

"Oh I can." Kim assured him. "Shego has no capabilities to love or care about anyone. She's nothing but a cold hearted monster. Just like Bonnie. Just like Ivy and Quinn and my poor naïve Ron is right in the midst of those vipers…" Kim said starting to rise off of the couch in anger before deflating once again. "And I put him there." She finished sadly.

The doctor steepled his fingers. "I'm not sure that you are giving this Ron enough credit. I mean, yes he may have turned to them from the shock of what happened between you and him but he chose to remain with them afterwards." The doctor tried to choose his next words with care. "Perhaps what he was needed was found with them?"

Kim turned suddenly blazing eyes on the doctor. "No. Ron is being manipulated and controlled by Shego and the rest and I will not believe anything else! There can be no way that Ron can lo…, cares for them." Kim said stumbling a bit when she almost said Ron might love them. "And there is no way that Shego might lo…, um care for Ron either. Shego can't feel anything for anyone! She is just using him!"

Dr Philstein sighed and shook his head but made sure it was quiet enough that Kim didn't hear him. At least he had made a breakthrough with her this day on what she had done and the consequences of it. Maybe at the next visit he could get her to seeing people as shades of gray and not so black and white?

.

With Wade in his basement:

.

Wade took a long hard sip of his ever present cola as he stared at his computers. Much had changed in his and his friends' lives as they grew older but this was one aspect of his life he doubted would ever change. Suddenly an automated computer alert voice called out from his computer speakers. "Hacker alert…Hacker alert….Hacker alert."

Wade his fingers flying over the keyboard in a blur tried to isolate whomever it was that had been dumb enough to try to hack him and found….Nothing. Oh, there were traces he had been hacked all right. Files and information pertaining to Ron and Kim's missions had been collected, compressed and then in a single blip transmission had been sent to some foreign computer but Wade for the life of him couldn't trace the signal nor the program that had done it.

"This isn't humanly possible." Wade muttered as he ran a diagnostic program to try and find out how someone had pierced his firewalls and uploaded a program to him without his knowledge. Finally, he found the log he was looking for. Someone had uploaded the program to search, locate, compress and transmit the files they were interested in, and had managed to do it all in one single computer cycle. That was less than a millisecond of real time! Who could write such a program let alone effortlessly slide it into his system? Searching even harder, Wade whose fingers would probably ache and bleed the next day from the speed he was forcing them to type, located the program hiding amongst his computer's extensive system files and tried desperately to break the encryption code on it. He noticed out of the corner of his eyes as one of his displays showed the program was shrinking at an alarming rate meaning it was self destroying itself to keep anyone from analyzing it. Finally, right before the program would have poofed completely he managed to halt its degradation enough to grab a few bytes that was left.

The code was so pure and compact Wade knew no human no matter how long they worked at it could have coded it. It must be the work of some super computer but why hack his system for information on Kim's previous missions? Some of them were a matter of public record and even the more secret of her missions still could have been found easier by hacking Global Justice for instance.

Wade blanched and instantly opened a channel to Global Justice.

Will Du looked up from his computer console when the large screen at the center of Global Justice flashed to life to reveal Wade Lode.

"This is a secure data channel Mr. Lode. How did you gain access to it?" Du asked with a frown. Glancing down at the terminal in front of him Du tapped a few keys. "And how did you get my password to do so?!" He practically growled.

Wade barely blinked. "Please. I hacked this channel almost five years ago, which by the way you should really change your passwords more often. Leaving a password the same for five years is not a good security practice."

Du could sense Dr. Director walking up behind him as she too looked up at the large central screen that showed Wade's face on it. "What password is Du using?" She asked.

Du looked outraged. "That is my personal access password Director. I don't think you should be asking Wade to blurt it out where anyone could hear it!"

Dr. Director fixed him with a look. "Obviously the password is broken and you will have to choose another after this so what's the big deal?"

Wade with a not so subtle smirk on his face replied for Du. "His password was uber agent 01."

Dr. Director gave a slight shake of her head at Du's choice of passwords before glancing up at Wade again. "So what is the reason for this intrusion in our systems Wade? Why not contact us the regular way?"

"I was hoping to find your firewalls had been strengthened since the last time I used this channel. I just got hacked a few moments ago by one of the most sophisticated hacker attacks I have ever seen and I suddenly wondered if Global Justice might be the next one to…."

Suddenly Wade's image on the screen was gone and the various computer lights on different monitors and pieces of equipment inside Global Justice flashed randomly for a moment before flashing twice in synchronization before resuming their normal work flow.

"Be hacked." Wade's image reappeared on the central monitor.

Dr. Director pinching the bridge of her nose and looked at her technicians. "We were just hacked, weren't we?"

One thin baldy man in a white lab coat looked up from a computer console and nodded his head. "And all of it in less than five milliseconds."

"What did they get?"

"That's the odd thing. Nothing really all that classified or for that matter even current. The program seems to have searched and gathered all the information we had on Ron Stoppable and Dr. Drakken and uploaded it somewhere."

"Uploaded it where?" Dr. Director asked the lab technician and then glancing up at Wade's image to include him as well.

The poor computer tech could only shrug his shoulders helplessly before looking up at Wade as well. "I don't know? The program began 'eating' itself as soon as it transmitted the information it had gathered."

Wade had to shrug helplessly at Dr. Director as well. "Same for me. But what bothers me is the few bits of coding I managed to save is very compact and elegant in its simplicity."

Dr. Director silently contemplated what she had been told for a moment. "Like a machine had designed it for maximum efficiency rather than a human coded it?" She finally asked.

Wade nodded his head.

Dr. Director turned to Du. "What known criminals on the loose right now have access that we know about to a supercomputer?"

Du shrugged. "Unfortunately, most of them. That seems to be a key component to every crazy's lab. We know D.N.A. Amy uses them in her experiments in gene splicing. Last week Dr. Dementor stole one. HenchCo even offers discounts if you buy them in multiples."

"Okay." Dr. Director replied in annoyance. "Let's try another angle. Who would be looking for information on Ron Stoppable or Dr. Drakken?"

Once again, Du shrugged his shoulders. "Well the only ones we can be sure of that wouldn't be needing that information is Stoppable or Drakken themselves. They know of their past histories so there is no reason they would be seeking information on themselves."

"What about Monkey Fist?" Wade asked. "I mean we know he has always been after Ron, maybe hearing that Ron has become a criminal he is seeking to join up with him or find out information on him so he can plan some kind of attack?"

"And the info on Drakken?"

Wade shrugged. "Well maybe he heard that Drakken is working with Ron now and wants to find out how much of a threat Drakken could be? I mean we know that Drakken and Fist have worked together in the past but we don't know how well they know each other. Maybe Fist is just looking to get as much info as possible?"

Dr. Director considered for a moment. "On the face of it Wade, your hypothesis does seem to make sense but dealing with Monty Fisk in the past I would have expected more of an elaborate plan using trained ninja monkeys to physically break into Global Justice and try to steal the info rather than a sophisticated remote hacking. However, this line of investigation is better than nothing. Keep us informed if you get any more attempts at hacking your systems Wade, oh and if you could come in some time in the next few days and see about upgrading our security systems for our computers and maybe giving a lecture or two to my people on proper security passwords?" Turning to Du before Wade could answer her, she added to Du. "See if you can find any leads on Monty Fisk's location."

.

Ron's lair/home in Nevada:

.

Bonnie sat in the dining room of the underground house and finished spreading some peanut butter and jelly on a slice of bread. It was nearing dinner time and still no sign of Ron, Shego or even Drakken had been seen yet and she was hungry. Bonnie was like Kim in that she couldn't cook to save her life but no one could screw up a simple peanut butter sandwich. Finishing the spreading of the ingredients, Bonnie slapped another slice of bread on top of it and started to bring it to her mouth when all of a sudden Harley wearing nothing but a pair of green panties and a man's white dress shirt unbutton enough to see a dangerous amount of her cleavage came bouncing, literally, into the room and snatched the sandwich out of her hand and took a bite.

"Ooh. You made it just like I like it Bon Bon." Harley cooed at her.

Bonnie frowned at her but instead of yelling she merely pulled the loaf of bread back over to her, got two more slices, and began spreading peanut butter and jelly on a slice. Finishing the sandwich, she started to raise it to her mouth….Only to have Ivy wearing her normal costume enter the kitchen and take it from her and began eating it as well.

Bonnie gave her one sharp glare to which Ivy just replied. "It's vegetarian."

Sighing, Bonnie once again made another sandwich. Hesitating before taking a bite, she looked around the kitchen area only to see Dr. Mozenberg enter. Sighing Bonnie held up the sandwich towards him as he walked over.

"Um, nein Fraulein, I don't care for peanut butter but thank you anyway." The doctor politely said to her.

Bonnie blinked. "I get to finally eat one?" She stated in surprise. Raising the sandwich, her mouth watering at the thought of finally getting to eat, she opened her mouth….Only to have Dr. Drakken briskly walk in and snatch the sandwich from her. "Oh good. I haven't had a bite to eat all day!"

"Oh come on!" Bonnie grumbled to herself. "Am I the only one who knows how to work a knife and a jar of peanut butter?" Suddenly realizing that if Drakken was back that might mean Shego and more importantly Ron might be back as well, Bonnie looked up in eagerness to the kitchen doorway.

Her hopes were realized as Ron and Shego swept into the room. Ron looked around and frowned in disappointment. "I was going to fix dinner but if you all want peanut butter and jelly I guess that's okay as well."

"You can make me dinner!" Bonnie replied with a large smile. "I haven't eaten yet."

Harley replied with a smirk. "You should have made yourself a sandwich Bon Bon. No sense in being lazy and make Ronnie do all the cooking."

Bonnie with a frown started to rise up from her chair in Harley's direction while still holding the peanut butter stained butter knife and Harley with a giggle ducked around behind Ivy.

Ron crossing over to Bonnie placed an arm around her waist causing her frown to return to a smile. "What would you like for me to fix you Bon Bon?"

"How about a nice big thick juicy hamburger?" Bonnie said after a moment.

Ivy eating the peanut butter sandwich frowned at her. "Meat? Ugh. How can any intelligent woman want to eat meat?"

Harley looked at her sandwich and then back to Ron. "I want a hamburger too!"

"Oh no, you have your peanut butter sandwich." Bonnie said with a smirk and then stuck her tongue childishly out at her.

"Ooh. Offering tongue as a second course?" Harley asked and surprising Bonnie, Harley suddenly darted over to her and before Bonnie could react, Harley quickly placed her mouth over Bonnie's and preceded to French kiss her. Bonnie was so shocked by this action she dropped the butter knife in her hand and rasied her hands to Harley's waist to push her away.

Shego shook her head at Harley's antics and also for how large Bonnie's eyes grew as the ex-cheerleader tried to push away from the bubbly blond, only to have Harley hop up, wrap her arms and legs around her, and continue to cling to her.

Off to one side Shego could see Dr. Mozenberg was shaking his head as well. Looking over at Drakken, Shego did laugh as she saw the blue skinned man was staring and had dropped his sandwich into his lap without even noticing, Drakken brought his hand up to his mouth as he continued to stare at the two women and for a moment Shego thought he might actually bite his hand before he realized he had lost his sandwich. At the last moment however, Drakken glanced at his empty hand and then into his lap and recovered his sandwich.

Ivy continued to eat as though nothing was going on but she did finally give Harley's back a sharp glance and said. "Harley let the poor woman come up for air!"

As Harley finally released Bonnie and hopped down, Bonnie yelled at her. "HARLEY! I… You… That was just… I can't believe…." Bonnie seemed for once to be at a complete loss of words.

"Just heavenly? Lots of fun? We should do it again? You can't believe you waited this long?" Harley tried helpfully to supply words.

Bonnie's mind was a whirl. Sure Harley and even Ivy had flirted with her over the past month and they had even gotten somewhat blatant in their comments a few times but this was the first time Harley had just sprang on her and tried to kiss her senseless. Bonnie's first instinct was to run off and hide until she decided what to think about it but she couldn't very well reject outright one of Ron's other women, he might consider it an insult or an indication that Bonnie just couldn't fit in with the group. And the kiss wasn't really that bad, as a matter of fact it had been kind of hot. And Bonnie had to admit that if she were to ever 'walk on the other side' that Harley was really cute and she couldn't deny the woman knew how to use her tongue.

The blond kind of reminded Bonnie of Tara from back in high school, although Tara wasn't the kind of girl to do the things that Harley did, well not in front of others anyway. And Bonnie had never even dreamed of kissing Tara like that, well okay there was that one dream back in cheer camp but that had been a freaky couple of days anyway, and really could one be held accountable for what they dreamed while they were asleep?

Finally, Bonnie realized everyone was staring at her waiting to see her reaction. Composing herself, she finally said calmly. "I told Ron I wanted a hamburger, now I have the taste of peanut butter in my mouth."

"I know of some ways we can replace that taste with something else." Harley replied instantly, fluttering her eyelashes at her.

Everyone hearing a yelp glanced over to see Drakken frantically waving his right hand in the air. It took a moment before Shego realized that on Harley's last innuendo, Drakken had really been distracted enough to bite his own hand.

"Gee, Dr. D. If you are that hungry I can make you a hamburger too." Ron said with a faint smile.

Drakken flushed a dark blue and settled for glaring at Ron for a moment before looking thoughtful. "With everything on it including catsup and extra onions?"

Ron nodded.

"Well…Yes, if it wouldn't be a bother."

"Coming right up. Anyone want one as well?" Ron replied as he removed his jacket and rolled up the sleeves of his shirt as he prepared to cook.

Shego nodded her head and then turned to look over to where Harley has sat herself at the table fluttering her eyelashes at Bonnie, who had also sat down at the table but was careful to put the table between her and Harley.

"Quinn? Is that one of Ron's shirts you are wearing?" Shego asked suddenly.

Harley gave a brief start and turned to look over at Shego. "Um, maybe?"

"What have I told you about going into Ron's room and getting his shirts? For crying out loud Quinn! You have a huge wardrobe in your own room and the only thing you ever seem to wear when we are home is panties and Ron's shirts!"

"And the panties are not even her own." Ivy said sitting down at the table.

Harley split her time between looking at Shego and Ivy. "Aww come on Red, Blackie. Is it my fault if Ron and Ivy buy nice clothes? And it's not like you and Ron don't have a lot of clothes and would miss a few here and there." She said to Ivy.

"A few?" Ivy said raising an eyebrow. "If you keep this up I'm going to have to start running around panty less and Ron is going to be walking around bare chested. Is that what you want?"

At Harley's slow smile, Ivy rolled her eyes. "I should have known better than to ask that, I really should."

Bonnie couldn't help it. She started giggling. Giggling in a way she hadn't done since she was a very small girl. A young girl before she knew what it was like to hear parents fighting in the night or before she knew that her sisters really did hate her and it was more than simple sisters teasing. Before the thought it was better to be hated and despised in school than not noticed had entered her mind. Back to when she was just a child and felt free to giggle, sing or dance just because she wanted to.

Harley glanced over at her with a large smile. "Took long enough for you to finally relax and open up Bon Bon."

Bonnie shot her a glance but started giggling again. Finally catching her breath, she said. "I had a long way to go Harley but I think I've finally arrived."

Drakken looked between the two women obviously confused by the conversation. "Arrive? Arrive from where? You've been here a month!"

"Don't worry about it Dr. D." Harley told him. "We understand what she means."

Bonnie continued to smile and the constant tension she hadn't even realized she had been holding in her shoulders began to relax.

"So…" Harley began. "After dinner, you, me, Ivy and Shego? We can make it a ladies night?"

Drakken once again looked confused. "You mean out?"

Ivy rolled her eyes again. How could any male be so dense?

Bonnie's smile slipped a little before returning. "Wow, Ivy and Shego are right, that is the only thing you think about and to answer your question. Maybe, we'll see after dinner, okay?"

"Works for me!" Harley replied and then glanced over to where Ron was cooking. "Hurry up Ronnie with that hot juicy meat; you've got some hungry gals over here!"

For the first time since Shego or Bonnie had known Harley, Harley blushed. "Um, okay that last one? I swear I meant it to be clean and not sound dirty."

This time when Bonnie started giggling, Ivy and Shego joined her, even if Shego's sounded more like snickering than giggling.


	24. Chapter 24

Partners in Crime

By Weirdbard

Chapter 24

Bonnie found herself once again on a white sandy beach staring off into the distance but this time not in sadness in being left behind but in peaceful contentment that her master had taken her with him this time. Bonnie looked at the pounding surf crashing on the beach in front of her and her eye automatically tracked to where she knew the cloaked weather machine hovered just off shore, even though to her eye all she could detect was a slight blurring of the air, as exotic South American birds of some type serenaded her from the jungles at her back.

Ron excited at finally starting on his grand plan had Drakken hastily attach a cloaking device to the weather machine and the very next day after purchasing it he was off to acquire the water he would need to make rain. To Bonnie's surprise, no one wanted to seem to make the journey with Ron to get the water except for Shego and her.

Ivy stated that she had in mind some new plants for their plan so begged off to stay behind in Nevada to work on them and of course Harley had agreed to stay behind to keep her company, even though it was more likely the red headed woman with the green skin would lock herself in her greenhouse and not allow herself to be distracted by Harley. Both Drakken and Mozenberg had insisted they had projects of their own in the works that couldn't be delayed so they too stayed behind.

Bonnie feared that she too would be left behind but when she tearfully asked if she could go with Ron, Shego had nodded her head. That didn't mean the raven haired woman had relaxed her control any though. Shego still made sure that Ron and Bonnie were never alone together for any length of time. Speaking of which, Bonnie feeling a presence walk up beside her, glancing over her shoulder she spotted Shego wearing an emerald green and black bikini standing there.

"Did you find anything?" Bonnie asked her, making reference to the fact that Shego had suddenly leapt up from the beach where they had both been sunning only moments ago and had ran off into the jungle behind them stating she had seen something out of the corner of her eye.

Shego angrily shook her head no. "I know I saw something moving just at the edge of the jungle though. Something black, keeping low to the ground."

Bonnie suppressed a shiver of fear. "You don't suppose it was a black panther do you? They do have them here don't they?"

Shego turned to study the dense jungle behind them. "Yeah, they have panthers around here although I believe they call them black jaguars instead of panthers but it is the same thing."

"Then shouldn't we move to the weather machine ship?"

Shego fixed her with a look. "I don't run from something I fear." She semi-challenged the woman.

"I'm not suggesting we run." Bonnie replied folding her arms and glaring back at Shego. "I was just thinking that sitting here on the beach may only entice the animal to attack at which point we'll have to defend ourselves and it would be a shame to destroy a predator for just doing what comes naturally to it."

Shego's frown turned to a grin. "Yeah, we are the 'guests' here aren't we? Okay, we'll move to the weather machine and leave the beach to the animals. Besides, we don't want to leave your Master alone for too long a time by himself do we? With his luck he's liable to suck up a mermaid and seduce it and we'll have another female to add to the harem."

Bonnie swatted Shego on the arm but in a playful manner. "Will you please stop teasing me about calling Ron Master? I've told you I've worked my obsession out and I know that Ron isn't really my Master, I just like calling Ron that so he knows how much he means to me now." Bonnie stated as she followed Shego over to where a small hovercraft sat on the beach.

Despite what she had just said to Shego, she still felt that Ron was so better a human being than she was so to her he was naturally her Master and she would always be his slave but she finally realized that none of the others ever called Ron Master and that it alternately embarrassed Ron and brought up dark feelings in him every time she did so, so she was trying to break herself from the habit, at least out loud. In her heart however, Bonnie knew that Ron was and always would be her only Master.

As the mini-hovercraft lifted into the air and started to slowly make its way over to the cloaked weather machine, some thick vines parted to allow one black clad ninja woman to peer out at the beach. Silently cursing the heat, the humidity, the bugs and not the least, Shego's diligence, Yori glared at the retreating hovercraft. Yori had managed to convince her fellow ninjas to remain at the Nevada underground home to keep an eye on the rest while she snuck on board the departing weather machine to follow Ron and the two women that had gone with him.

Well it wasn't so much she convinced her fellow ninjas, as it was she had told them to stay and ran over and with use of a grappling hook swung on board the weather machine at the last moment as it was departing. She was the acting Sensei in any case and the other two had to follow her lead. Yori had hoped to catch Bonnie by herself on this trip and have a 'word' with her, as the Americans would say. Yori had just about convinced herself that the conversation would end with Bonnie disappearing forever and her joining Ron and his group in her place but Shego never left Bonnie's side for a moment for Yori to attempt to snatch her away.

Now Yori was faced with the task of swimming out to the weather machine, and not get caught in the suction as it pulled water from the ocean, filtered it to remove impurities and salt and get aboard the weather machine in case Ron decided to leave. It wouldn't do for her to come all this way only to get accidentally left behind and have to find some way to contact Master Sensei and have someone come out to get her. Not only would it be embarrassing, it would also leave Ron-san alone and unprotected with Bonnie. Yori dismissed Shego as protection for Ron as she obviously was failing in that duty by allowing Bonnie anywhere near Ron-san in the first place. While to Yori's mind it was simply a clear cut conclusion that Bonnie was no good for the chosen one and eventually Ron would thank Yori for removing her from his side, the psychiatrist Dr. Philstein would have diagnosed Yori as coming down with a bad obsession problem of her own and probably would have had her right next to Kim on the couch in a group therapy session, if he could keep the two women from trying to kill each other of course.

As the hovercraft docked with the weather machine, Shego and Bonnie hopped off it and walked over to where Ron sat at a console staring at the gauges. They had been at this deserted stretch of beach somewhere in South America for almost two days as Ron slowly filled the weather machine's holds with pure filtered water. Shego had repeatedly pointed out that Ron could have pushed the pumps to their maximum and quickly filled the tanks in hours instead of days but now that Ron was actively seeking to fulfill his goals he grew fearful that Wade through the use of satellites or some computer technology he wasn't even aware of, would find them and stop them before he could even put his plan into operation. It was ironic to Ron that finally he knew what Drakken must have felt every time he tried one of his plans only to be stopped by Team Possible. The only difference being that Drakken always tried to take over the world and Ron was secretly hoping with his plans to save it.

Sitting back with a sigh of relief Ron glanced over his shoulder to see the two ladies watching him. "Gauges are full." He said with a huge smile. "We can take off now and go back to the lair and pick up the rest and then on to Africa!"

Shego thought to herself that was one of the very first times, she had heard Ron refer to their underground home as a lair and to her surprise, she didn't like it. Ron always called their place home before and now referring to it as a lair seemed to somehow cheapen the place to her. "Home, we can go home now and pick up the others." She corrected him.

Ron smile grew even larger. "Yeah home, I meant to say home."

Yori swimming out to meet the concealed weather machine increased her pace frantically as she heard the gentle sucking noise of the pumps stop and a moment later the light splashing noises of the discarded salt being dumped back into the water halt as well. She knew it must mean that Ron-san had finally gotten all the water he needed and was about to disembark. Finally clearing the cloaking barrier that surrounded the ship, Yori could see hovering above her the large airship and firing her grappling gun, a sleeker and more compact design than the one Kim Possible used, she just managed to catch a railing on the side of the ship as it lifted upwards, pulling her out of the sea.

Frantically she engaged the retraction mechanism to pull herself up to the ship hoping to find cover on its surface before anyone could look out a porthole of the craft and see her dangling.

Shego joined Bonnie as she was standing at just such one of those portholes looking at the jungle as the airship made a long slow turn and started back towards the United States.

"What are you looking at?" Shego asked.

"I was just trying to see if I could spot that panther or jaguar or whatever you caught a glimpse of on the beach. While I wouldn't want to see one up close and personal, it would be nice to catch a glimpse of one now. I hear they are beautiful deadly creatures."

Shego nodded her head. "I saw one once in a zoo. My parents took me and my brothers to see the animals…" Shego paused for a moment. "But that was a long time ago. Right before the comet hit and…" Shego faded off and ceased talking and just stared out the porthole lost in her thoughts.

"I think they must look a bit like you." Bonnie quietly said.

Shego stirred from her thoughts glanced over at her and raised an eyebrow.

"Well both Jaguars and you have sleek black hair. You are both deadly to your prey…" Bonnie stated as she reached out a hand and allowed it to gently caress Shego's hair.

Shego eyebrow rose another notch. "You starting to give into Harley's campaign to get you to appreciate women more?"

Bonnie started to jerk her hand back and blush but settled for a giggle instead, something she was doing far more often lately. "Maybe." She admitted.

"Or as it is more likely I'm thinking." Shego continued. "You are just suffering from Jungle Fever and are just hornier than hell?"

This time Bonnie fully laughed. "Maybe that too." She admitted. "We really didn't get much quality time this trip."

Shego placed an arm around Bonnie's shoulders. "You know, this machine has a very good autopilot. It really doesn't need anyone to steer it at all. Let's go find Ron and see about curing your Jungle Fever."

As the two women left the porthole they had been looking out of, they didn't notice a face appear outside as Yori glared at the two women as they walked off. Pulling earpieces out of her ears, Yori pulled the tiny suction cup off the outside of the porthole that had allowed her to hear everything the two women had said.

Not only was Shego failing to keep that woman away from her Ron-san but also she was actively trying to keep her next to him and was perhaps falling for the ex-cheerleader herself. Perhaps when Bonnie disappeared, that Shego should as well? Yori thought to herself as she clung to the outside of the weather machine.

Sure, she knew that Master Sensei said that Ron's destiny and Shego's were intertwined but perhaps the old man was wrong? As far as that went, what did Ron need with any of the other women at all? There was nothing that they could teach him that Yori couldn't teach Ron-san better.

Yori pulled herself to a more comfortable position on top of the weather machine and contemplated what might need to be done in the near future.

.

Back at the underground home in Nevada.

.

Harley lay on the couch on her back with her feet resting crossed on the back of the couch and her head nearly resting on the floor as she watched the TV upside down. She was bored. Ivy had locked herself in her greenhouse as she worked feverishly on creating some new plants for the 'grand plan'. She decided that only one type of plant, no matter how tasty may quickly bore the starving masses in Africa and she wanted to give them some variety.

To say Harley had been surprised would have been an understatement. The Ivy she knew rarely cared what humans wanted and was mostly fixated on her plants instead. To work so hard to create food plants for humans to eat was to say the least a bit out of character for her. Harley could only decide it was one of two things. Either Ivy was bored and looking for a challenge to take her mind off her boredom or… Ivy was being softened by her time with Ron and was actually starting to care about people.

Harley twisted and wiggled gracefully like a snake till she was sitting in the proper manner on the couch and placed her hand to her chin as she thought about it. While Ivy was the type to become engrossed in her work, if she was just looking for something to break the boredom, it was more likely she would have suggested to Harley that they hit the town for a crime spree or better yet an afternoon of wild lovemaking. When did this idea to make more food plants seem to enter Ivy's head?

Harley pondered and finally remembered the exact moment. It was the night before Ron was preparing to leave to South America to get the water they needed. They, well except Drakken and Mozenberg had been sitting in the TV room watching TV, Shego had been arguing what was wrong with the ocean water off of the United States coast, and Ron pointed out that there was a high level of industrial pollution in the water. Ivy had seemed pleased that Ron knew that fact and that he was suggesting taking water from a less developed and human infested area. Shego had finally conceded the point and had also brought up it would probably be safer away from potential prying eyes anyway when a commercial had come on television.

Harley winced as she remembered it had been one of 'those' commercials. One with the large eyed, sunken belly kids standing in front of the hovels of some poor village while an overly cheerful white woman told how only you could save them for pennies a day by sending your money to their group. Harley wasn't ashamed to admit she looked away, not being able to witness any more the suffering of children. That had always been her weakness and one of the many things that finally caused her break from the Joker.

Ron, Bonnie and Shego had also seemed to be cut to the core by the images of the starving children. Having looked away from the TV, Harley found herself facing Ivy. Ivy had her usual bored expression as she watched the commercial but as Harley watched, little by little Ivy's expression turned from boredom as she waited for the commercial to end and for them to get back to the program they had been watching to one of horror. Sure, to anyone else beside Harley and well maybe now Ron would have missed it but it was there. Ivy was starting to feel sorry for the poor kids. Even she couldn't be indifferent to ALL human suffering, if those suffering were children. But then again, who could?

Harley feeling an icy coldness answered her own unspoken question. There was one that didn't find children suffering to be horrible but found it to be the biggest joke of all time. The Joker.

In the beginning with her time with the Joker, Harley had once rationalized to Batman that the Joker wasn't evil, he just liked to have fun. And if some people were injured with his fun? Well, that was too bad but it wasn't her precious Mr. J's fault.

A look of revulsion crossed Harley's face as she remembered that. How could she have ever been so blind or stupid? Harley crossed her arms over her stomach, almost as if protecting it from assault as she tried desperately to cut her memories off before they could reach…. A sob tore through her throat as she realized it was too late and her mind dredged up memories of… That night.

It had been Christmas Eve, always a dangerous time to be around the Joker. The natural happiness and gaiety of the season always brought out his worst. Harley had thought maybe, just maybe, her precious Puddin was getting into the season when he had Harley wrap packages for him without telling her what was inside or where they were going to take them. Harley to her present day horror remembered spending extra time to make the packages look as beautiful and as Christmacy as she could. Dressed like one of Santa's elves she helped to load a truck with the packages, with her at that time precious Joker dressed as Santa Claus, she had rode with him to an orphanage just outside of Gotham, and helped to unload the packages and carry them inside.

Harley sitting on the couch in the Nevada underground home let out a whimper and whispered. "No please, don't make me relive that again!" She begged her conscious.

Her mind however continued to plague her with vivid memories of that night.

The happy, joyous faced children as they gathered around as the Joker played a macabre version of Santa Claus as he handed out those damn Christmas packages that Harley had spent so long wrapping. Joker made the children who were staring up at him in awe to promise to wait till morning before opening their packages. Harley had at that time been so besotted with the Joker she had actually thought there must have been a good side to her precious Puddin and he was indulging in it on that one night.

It was only as they were leaving the orphanage that the Joker had broken down near the truck and started laughing hysterically that Harley began to realize she had been fooling herself and there were no toys inside those packages to be had. In between gales of laughter, the Joker had said that by tomorrow morning that orphanage would look like it belonged to Two Face.

Harley feeling like her soul was freezing had been so distracted she actually grabbed the Joker by the lapels of his Santa costume and dragged him down to stare into her face as she demanded to know what he had done. The Joker reigning in his laughter to a few giggles looked into Harley's eyes and said two words. "Acid bombs."

Harley had flung the Joker away from her and ran to reach the doors of the orphanage. She had to stop those kids from opening those cursed packages.

Harley twisted in her spot on the couch till she was lying on it in a fetal position, tears pouring out of her eyes as her mind tortured her with memories she had nearly managed to bury till this day.

Harley had almost managed to reach the door when suddenly there was an explosion from inside. An explosion so great it blew off the door to the orphanage and hurled Harley till she was lying at the Joker's feet near the truck. One of the children having been thrilled to receive a gift from 'Santa' that night had tried to sneak a peek, rather than wait till morning as he had promised.

The children sleeping in beds next to one another in one large room had their 'gifts' go off as the fire and acid detonated them one after the other. Fortunately most of the children had placed their gifts under their heavy metal beds so were protected from the explosions and spray of acid but Harley wouldn't know that till several weeks later.

The Joker had careless picked her up by her neck and tossed her in the truck as if she had been a bag of laundry and together with the other henchmen had drove off, even as more explosions and fires rocked the orphanage.

Harley had remained in a near catatonic state the rest of that horrible night and well on to the next day before the Joker had enough with her not appreciating his great joke and started slapping her till she came out of it. He then suggested that they go on an early morning Christmas Day hunt for carolers and bury stakes of Holly through their chests. That was the point where Harley lost it. She called him a monster, to which the Joker just smiled even larger and then she called him an inhuman ghoul, to which the Joker had laughed uproariously. And then she told him he wasn't even funny.

It was at that point the Joker stopped smiling and the beating began in earnest. Harley had kept what had caused the final breakdown and what caused the Joker to attempt to kill her and then dump her remains in front of Ivy's place to herself all these years. She had buried that night so deeply inside her, she almost managed to forget her part in it herself. But now wondering at how children suffering was starting to crack Ivy's walls undid herself completely.

Harley lay on the couch sobbing so deeply she worried that she might choke to death on her own tears and then realized at that exact moment she didn't even care. Ivy wandering in at that moment ran to Harley's side and pulled her into her lap.

"Baby what's wrong?" Ivy frantically begged Harley.

Harley managed to pull away from Ivy and put some distance between them on the couch. "Don't touch me. I'm dirty." Harley sobbed.

"What are you talking about?" Ivy demanded and reached for her to pull Harley back to her arms.

"I'm a monster Ivy." Harley screamed at her. "You don't know what I've done. You don't know what I did that night Mr. J. tried to kill me."

"You mean the Wayne Foundation Orphanage acid bombings?" Ivy asked.

Harley looked at Ivy in shock. "You knew?"

Ivy shook her head gently at Harley. "Hun, come on really? Kids being harmed by gift packages? Everyone in Gotham knew that it was one of the Joker's sick jokes."

"And did you know I was the one who wrapped those packages?" Harley cried at her.

Ivy's face turned stony but only for a moment. "Did you know what was in those packages?" She finally asked.

"Oh God, no! I mean I would never try to stop one of Puddin's jokes but not even I would allow him to harm children if I had known!" Harley cried. "When I found out what Mr. J. had done I tried to go back but I was too late! The kids had already….already…." Harley broke down sobbing again.

Ivy once again tried to take Harley into her arms but Harley continued to pull back. "Look Harley! Am I going to have to call Ron and have him come back from the Amazon to help me with you? You are not responsible for what happened if you didn't even know what that clown was going to pull!"

Harley froze and then it was she that was pulling Ivy to her. She stared into Ivy's eyes, the desperation in her eyes so evident it almost burned Ivy. "Promise me you'll never tell Ron what I have done! It would kill him if he knew just what kind of monster I am!"

Ivy frowned at her. "Stop talking like that! You are not a monster! And Ron knows we are far from angels. We've never tried to hide it from him."

"I can never change what I've done." Harley ended up sobbing in Ivy's arms.

"No but we can try to make amends for it." Ivy finally said softly.

Harley pulled back to stare at Ivy. Finally, Ivy with a note of irritation said. "What?"

"You've never shown any regret for the things you've done." Harley said quietly as if afraid it would make Ivy mad.

"Just because I've never let you see me cry, doesn't mean I haven't." Ivy replied. "Look, I know I can be a bit…cold and indifferent and I'll never be a 'people' person but never doubt two things Harley. One that I love you and two I regret some of the things I've done, maybe not why I did them but I have regretted a time or two what I have done and…" Ivy paused and bit her lip. "I think I want to change. And I think us being in this dimension, with Ron, is the opportunity we both need to start over fresh."

Harley finally stopped crying and just sniffled as she sat cuddled in Ivy's lap.

"Now clean yourself up baby. The reason I came in was to tell you that Ron called and he's coming home."

Harley stilled in Ivy's grasp. "But you said, you would call Ron and make him come home if you had to, to deal with me. You already knew he was coming back?"

Ivy smiled slightly. "Got you to stop crying didn't it?"

Harley pulled back away from Ivy and looked at her as if to say, you lied to me?

Ivy reached across and gently cupped Harley's cheek with her hand. "Don't you know baby? I would move the heavens and the earth itself if that is what it takes to dry your tears."

Harley sniffled but smiled. "You are becoming a big softie."

"Only around you and maybe Ron, Shego and Bonnie but if Drakken or Mozenberg call me that I'll mulch them and feed them to my plants."

Harley softly laughed and getting up from the couch, she looked over to Ivy. "I'm going to take a shower. I'm a mess." Harley watched Ivy for a moment. "Wanna join me?"

Ivy placed a finger to her lips as if considering. "Let me think."

Harley started to frown.

"Do you even need to ask?" Ivy finished as she jumped up and pulled Harley into her grasp and the two women left the TV room.

As the mini hover craft floated to touch down in front of the entrance to the underground home, Ron paused and looked around. There it was again, that familiar yet indefinable feeling. A sense and feeling that someone was near that Ron should recognize but infuriatingly it once again disappeared as soon as he tried to concentrate on it. Ron placed his hand in his pocket, pulled Rufus out, and looked to him. "Do you sense something odd buddy?"

The naked mole rat cocked his head as if concentrating and a look of frustration crossed his tiny face. Rufus nodded his head. "Yep, yep."

"Can you tell what it is?" Ron asked as Shego and Bonnie walked up beside him and looked at him and Rufus in question.

Rufus screwed his face up even more as he concentrated before sighing. "Nope." The naked mole rat finally had to admit.

Ron sighed as well before gesturing the ladies to the home's entrance before him.

Yori waited a moment longer to make sure they had gone fully inside before sliding down her rope. A look of pain was on her face and she massaged her temples as she walked. Both Ron and Rufus concentrating on their Mystical Monkey powers had nearly overcome her ability to remain hidden from them.

"Hey guys?" Ron called out as the elevator lowered them to the living room area of the underground dwelling. "We're home and I want to take off as soon as we can for Africa."

It was Shego who first spotted Harley and Ivy coming from the bedroom area and she rolled her eyes when she noticed that both were wearing robes and Harley was drying her hair with a towel as she came in. She wondered if the two nymphomaniacs had accomplished anything while they were gone or had spent the days in their room having sex. Feeling a bump on her hip, Shego glanced over to see Bonnie raising an eyebrow at her as if reading her mind and reminding her exactly what she, Bonnie and Ron had been doing on the trip back and that Shego had no reason to be judging Harley and Ivy. Shego smirked at Bonnie a bit before turning her attention back to the ex-Gotham criminals. "Did you get anything done while we were gone?" She asked anyway.

Ivy placed a hand on her hip. "I'll have you know I developed two separate fast growing root vegetables, also loaded with vitamins and nutrients while you were gone."

"How do they taste?" Bonnie asked curious. She still couldn't quite believe the knockout redhead was a botanist and could create new plant species as fast as she could.

Ivy shrugged. "One of them tastes a bit like a cross between a carrot and peanuts and the other one taste like celery if you were to cross it with radishes."

Bonnie tried to imagine what that would taste like but failed. She made a mental note to ask to taste them later.

Drakken wandered into the living room and started to address Ron and Shego but found his attention caught by the sight of Harley's bare legs showing because of the short length of her robe until Ivy deliberately stepped into his line of sight blocking the view. Giving a brief shake of his head as if coming out of a trance, he turned his attention back to Ron and Shego.

"I'm glad you two are back. I have something to show you." Turning he called over his shoulder back towards the bedroom area. "Bebes assemble."

With a woosh noise, moving at hyper speed the first Bebe appeared as if magically next to Drakken. The robot woman was a typical Bebe unit that Ron had seen before. Slightly metallic blue skin with blond hair in an old 50's style hairdo, glowing red eyes, the only new addition to the typical Bebe appearance was a necklace with a pearly white oval hanging from it that was faintly glowing with a numeral 1 on it.

There was a second woosh noise and what was obviously another Bebe robot appeared next to the first but this one was radically different from her 'sister'. This robot woman was slightly smaller than the first one. She also had blond hair but this one was styled in pigtails and her face was sculpted in a different manner than the first one. Around her neck hung a glowing oval as well but this one had a number 2 on it.

Ivy frowned as she studied the robot. "You made her look like Harley?" She questioned and somehow managed to growl at the same time.

Before Drakken could reply, there were two more wooshing noises and two more Bebe units appeared. The one closest to the Harley Bebe unit was as tall as the number 1 and had coal black hair, green glowing eyes and while the style of clothing was similar to the other Bebes, hers was in shades of green and black and she was wearing a number 3 necklace.

"You made one of those things to look like me." Shego asked as her hands flared into green fire. "What have we discussed about making copies of me?"

Drakken looked nervous. "You said I could never clone you, you never said anything about using your likeness for one of my Bebes."

Ron placed a hand on Shego's shoulder to keep her from flambéing Drakken as he studied the fourth Bebe to show up. This one had short brunette hair and a slightly condescending sneer molded onto her face. It was a mirror image of Bonnie, well the old Bonnie as she hardly ever had that snobbish superior look on her face any more since coming to live with him and the rest of the group. Of course, this one had a number 4 hanging around her neck.

"What's with the different models Dr. D?" Ron asked.

"I'm glad you asked." Drakken took a deep pride filled breath but kept a wary eye on Shego. "I decided to make some prototype Bebes before settling on a model to make my Ultra Bebes from."

"So these models don't have any of the Luna stone in their makeup?" Ron asked as he stepped forward to examine the robots more closely. All the Bebe units moved their heads as one to track him.

"No. I've decided to field test the prototypes here and the one that proves to be superior will be the basis for the new Bebe army!" Drakken said gleefully.

Harley raised an eyebrow in his direction. "Aren't they all exactly the same except for their appearances? So really what you are saying is, once you decide which one of us you like to ogle the most, then you will make hundreds of them?"

Drakken nervously coughed and looked away.

"You are Ron Stoppable." The number 2 Bebe that looked like Harley suddenly announced at Ron as he paused in front of her. She might looked like a metallic version of Harley but her voice was still the typical Bebe voice.

"Um yeah. That's me." Ron admitted. "Why?"

"Visually associating your image with data contained in the Bebe hive mind on Ron Stoppable." The robot replied and turned to face forward once again.

"O..kay." Ron muttered as he moved back towards the other non metallic women in the room.

"Say, why didn't you make one to look like Ivy?" Harley asked as she moved forward to stare at her twin.

Draken shook his head. "Oh no, I'm not going to make that mistake. I can just see having a Ivy Bebe and Kim Possible sneaking in and using her likeness to it to infiltrate and destroy my plans to take over the world."

Ivy folded her arms across her chest. "One, they are OUR plans to take over the world for US and two, I DO NOT LOOK LIKE KIM POSSIBLE!" She yelled.

Drakken quickly scurried behind his Bebes in the face of Ivy's wrath.

Ron stepped between the two groups once again. "We are all here for the same purpose. No reason to get hostile with one another." He looked over to Ivy. "And no Ivy you don't look anything like Kim."

Ivy frowned as she realized he didn't say she looked better, just that she didn't resemble Kim that much.

"Ah Gute. I'm happy to see you are all here." Dr. Mozenberg replied distracting them all as he entered the living room area from the bedroom hallway. "I have something so show you." Gesturing back at the hallway, he called out. "Come here my Mantis."

A vaguely human sized object came out of the hallway and under its own power moved to stand next to Dr. Mozenberg. The object lacked human like legs and seemed to float along instead on a single smooth cylinder. There were no visible openings in the cylinder and it was topped by a single mantis-like head with two large glowing oval like eyes.

Ron just barely managed to suppress a shiver as the thing looked like an alien out of a bad horror movie. Oh, it wasn't as unnerving as say its bigger MANTIS 'cousin' that had operated on him but even smaller and more compact it was still a scary sight.

"You are just trying to steal my limelight!" Dr. Drakken shouted at Mozenberg. "Somehow you knew I was going to introduce my Bebes today so you slapped together this oversized egg beater together to upstage me!" Stomping over before anyone could stop him; Drakken hauled off and kicked the metal cylinder, only to give a sharp yelp of pain as his ankle twisted at a bad angle on the smooth metal surface of the cylinder. In a blink of an eye, the Mantis robot turned and multiple arms seemingly forming out of the skin of the cylinder appeared and caught Drakken as he started to fall. Cradling him gently, the arms then brought him up to the thing's eye level and it cocked its head from side to side, as it examined his injured foot. Another arm formed at the thing's chest level and played a red beam across his ankle.

"Help it is attacking me!" Drakken yelled to his Bebes.

The robot women's eyes glowed red briefly for a second before returning to normal. "Negative Leader. The machine is only repairing the damage and subsequent inflammation of the Extensor Digitorum Brevis Muscle, Interior Extensor Retinaculum and the Interior Peroneal Retinaculum."

"Eh?" Drakken asked as the machine slowly returned him to his upright position and released him.

"It healed your twisted ankle." Harley said rolling her eyes. "Are you sure you are a doctor? You don't even know the names of the tendons or muscles in the foot?"

Dr. Mozenberg nodded his head. "Mantis cannot attack. It is for healing, not fighting. You attacked it and was injured. She was only healing the damage you caused yourself."

"She?" Shego asked.

"All men think of their machines as female." Mozenberg replied defensively.

Harley eyed the robot as the arms retracted back into the surface of its body and it went back to a smooth cylinder topped with a insect like head. "You must have had some interesting dates when you were younger Doc or you got unresolved issues with women if you think that thing is anyway feminine like."

Mozenberg frowned and looked to Stoppable. "Anyway Herr Stoppable, I wish to accompany you to Africa with my Mantis."

"Sure Doc, but why?"

"If my past is any experience. You may very well need my Mantis's healing abilities on this trip."

"Of course you can come. The Bebes and Mantis are now as much a part of our group as me, Drakken or yourself is." Ron said with a smile.

The Bebes turned to look at him and even the Mantis cocked its large head to the side, as it 'looked' his way.

Ron resisted the urge to step back under the electronic scrutiny of the machines and maintained his smile. "Okay everyone, gather up what you need to take with you and prepare for an extended stay and we'll be off to Africa in a few hours."

The group broke up as Ivy and Harley went up to the greenhouse to fetch her newly developed plant seeds. Shego and Bonnie went to their rooms to shower and pack some clothing for the extremely hot climate they were traveling to, Ron went outside to keep an eye on the weather machine and Mozenberg and his Mantis machine went back to his room, for what was best not contemplated, leaving Drakken and his Bebes standing in the living room area alone.

"Can you believe it?" Drakken ranted to his robots.

"Please qualify Leader." Bebe #1 intoned. "Can we believe what?"

"That…That buffoon classified my partnership in this group on the same level as machines!"

"Ron Stoppable was carefully to classify himself in the same grouping." Bebe #4 stated.

"Well maybe he did." Drakken reluctantly admitted. "But a machine is expendable and my genius and skills are certainly not!"

The eyes of the Bebe robots flashed briefly but they didn't respond.

"Remain here while I get changed." Drakken ordered them. "If I am going to embark on a take over the world plan, I will be dressed appropriately!"

"Yes Leader." The Bebes simultaneously dutifully replied.

A few moments after Drakken left the living room, the elevator from above descended once again to reveal Ron Stoppable. He wasn't sure why but after reaching the gazebo on the surface, he suddenly felt it would be a bad idea to be walking around outside alone. It was silly he knew. He was capable of handling anything on his own and he knew for certain that the ninjas from Yamanouchi were out there somewhere and would have his back if anyone were to attack him but the ominous feeling was so strong he had decided to heed it and had turned around and came back down. Seeing nothing in the living room but the four Bebes he almost turned around and went back up again.

The robots didn't scare him per sey but they did make him feel nervous. Their faces gave nothing away to what they were feeling, if indeed the Bebes could be said to have feelings in the first place and his Mystical Monkey power didn't react to them at all. To his Mystical Monkey power, they were no different than the coffee table or a computer.

"Um, hello ladies." Ron felt the need to address them. I mean it would be rude to walk into a room where someone was standing and not speak to them.

"Greetings Ron Stoppable." The Bebes all spoke at the same time.

"Could you not do that?" Ron asked a little unnerved by the simultaneous voices.

"Could we not do what?" The metal women asked again in unison.

"That. Talk at the exact same time. Individuals never do that…" Ron paused for a moment. "Well Kim's twin brothers sometimes did that but most others don't." Ron walked closer and peered at the robots, they for their part continued to stare back at him.

"You know, I always wanted to ask this but never got a chance with the other Bebes that Drakken had built, but do you individually think or do you all have only one thought?"

The Bebes' eyes glowed for a moment and by some process that Ron couldn't even guess at, they reached some kind of decision and the Bebe that looked like Shego stepped forward slightly from the rest. "We each have individual computing processes and memories but we are in constant communication between each other and the hive mind." The Shego/Bebe stated.

Ron resisted the urge to scratch his head as he tried to figure out if that the machine had answered his question. "So you do have your own minds, so to speak but you are constantly 'talking' to one another at all times?"

"Affirmative." The Bebe answered.

"So while what you know is shared, you could develop personalities, different way of seeing things and ways of acting all your own?"

For just a split moment Ron thought the Bebe looked confused, which of course would be impossible since its face couldn't move. It was sculpted in steel after all. "What purpose would be served by developing personalities and mannerisms individual from the group collective?" It finally asked.

Ron was stumped for a moment but quickly rallied. "Because that is how we humans are. We don't all act the same or react the same way to the same things. It was what gives us our individualities and makes us unique."

"We are not humans. We are Bebe. We are not unique. We are uniform." All four answered.

"But Drakken made you individual models so you are now unique." Ron pointed out, making sure to turn to look at each of them individually. "And even if you all looked exactly alike, it would still not mean you had to all act the same way. You have the right to be different."

The Bebes' eyes glowed as they each individually and collectively as a group through their link to the hive mind thought about what Ron had said.

Finally the one that looked like Harley spoke. "Why is it imperative to you that we are individuals?"

Ron gave a shrug. "It's not like its impera… um, what you said. I just thought you might like to be a little different from one another. I mean if you are all happy acting exactly the same way that's your business not mine."

"We do not feel happiness or sadness. We are Bebe." The Shego/Bebe stated flatly.

Ron frowned and stepped forward as if trying to see into the Bebe's soul through her electronic eyes. "Are you sure? You don't feel anything when you learn something new? Or see something you have never seen before, experience something that no Bebe has ever experienced? Nothing at all?" Ron's face fell as the Bebe didn't react to his question. "That is the saddest thing I've ever heard."

Shego walking into the living room from her bedroom heard Ron's last statement. "What is the saddest thing you have ever heard of before?" She asked as she joined him.

"The Bebes cannot feel happiness or joy." Ron answered.

Shego frowned. "Of course they can't Ron. They are machines."

"I know but it just seems wrong that something can walk, talk and move about and they don't even care. I mean to not find joy in being alive or helping others?" Ron's eyes widened. "I just realize. They will never know the joy of eating Bueno Nacho! How unfair is that?"

Shego laughed and shook her head. "You have the biggest heart of anyone I've ever met before Ron but not everyone can be 'saved'. The Bebes are what they are. They can't change or help it."

Ron took Shego's arm as they turned to go to the surface. He looked back over his shoulder one last time to look at the Bebes. "I don't know. I still think if you can think and see, you can change and be more than you were."

As Ron and Shego got on the elevator, Ron raised a hand and waved at the Bebes. "Um, see you ladies on the ship. Bye for now though." He called out.

Shego continued to shake her head. "You might as well have just said bye to the furniture in here. You know that?"

Ron continued to look thoughtful. "I don't know. I just have a feeling that they can be more than what Drakken built them to be if given a chance." He said as the elevator rose through the opening in the ceiling and he and Shego were lost to view.

Seconds passed in the living room when the Bebe that looked like Shego raised her hand and waved in a manner similar to what Ron had done. "Bye for now." It called out.

The other Bebes turned to look at her before turning to stare forward once again as they waited for Dr. Drakken to come out and order them what to do next.

.

.

Author's note:

Okay that ends this chapter. Sorry for the longish delay on this one but I was one of those caught in the great ice storm of January 2009.

Not too much to say in this note except to thank all of you who continue to read my story and grant me favored author and favored stories status.

I did want to comment on one pm that I received that someone thought I was spending too much time with Ron and his ladies relationships. I'm not just doing that for fluff. Before your enemies can storm the castle, you first have to build the castle walls.

What does that mean? It means things are going to quickly start to turn bad for Ron and his group and many are going to come between him and the women in his life and he may soon have tragedies and decisions to deal with. That is all I'm going to say at this time though.


	25. Chapter 25

Partners in Crime

By Weirdbard

Chapter 25

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Author's note:

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I usually put these after the story but felt I needed this one time to put it before.

I want to make sure everyone understands that the following is in no way a political statement about any country in Africa, or a comment about race, creed or color. All country and tribal names are made up by me and as far as I know, do not exist in real life. If however, by some fluke I have used the name of a real tribe or political organization, it is purely coincidental and not a deliberate political statement.

I did set the incidents in the story in Africa but that is not to say that I believe the atrocities portrayed in the story only happen in that country. Sadly, man's inhumanity to man happens all over the global and knows no race, boundary or political alignment. As this story continues, Ron shall find and try to put an end to what he perceives as injustices everywhere. For the sake of the story, I had to have somewhere to start and I randomly chose Africa.

Again, this is just a story and not a political statement or judgment of any country.

Thank you for your understanding.

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The large weather machine, while considerably faster than a blimp, was still no speed demon when it came to flying. After all, it was made for controlling the weather, not breaking speed records so Ron found himself with a lot of time to kill and not many ways of doing it.

The weather machine was also built with practicality in mind. Meaning it was built to do a job and then move on, so there were no extra cabins or private rooms onboard, just one large storage room which was currently filled with Ivy's special plant seeds and the control room. Which fortunately was a little larger than the one Shego and Drakken had stolen when Drakken had pulled his great 'take over Canada' scheme so while the control room was not crowded with everyone onboard it also didn't leave a whole lot of space to stretch out in either.

Ron found himself sitting in one of the large seats with Shego and Bonnie sitting in his lap leaning against him while Harley and Ivy sat on the floor beside the chair. Shego in honor of Ron finally getting a chance to put his plans into action had dressed for the occasion in one of her normal black and green 'catsuits' she used to wear while working for Drakken. Bonnie also decided to wear a version of the costume she had designed when she went into a life of crime for her Master, the only difference was this version of her black leather costume was one that Shego had helped her to redesign. It still looked like leather but this version 'breathed' a bit easier than leather, thusly keeping her cooler in the extreme temperatures they were sure of finding in Africa. Harley and Ivy were also wearing versions of the costumes they had on the first time they had met Ron and Shego. Ivy's skintight costume of green and Harley's black and red harlequin costume, complete even down to her donning white face makeup and having her tasseled hood on.

A lesser man might have let the image of sitting in a basic throne like chair with two exotic dressed women in his lap while two more equally exotically costumed women lounged nearby go to his head but all Ron felt was a kind of warm contentment knowing his ladies was near him.

Across from Ron sitting in another chair, facing him was Dr. Drakken. He was dressed in his typical lab coat and had even donned the heavy rubber gloves. Indeed, it was his showing up dressed in the manner that Ron and Shego would always think of him that spurred the others on into donning their previous costumes as well. Harley had pronounced it as nostalgia day. Drakken also had his Bonnie and Shego Bebe bots sitting in his lap but while in Ron's case Shego and Bonnie had taken it upon themselves to sit in Ron's lap, Drakken had ordered his robots to sit in his lap in an deliberate attempt to mirror Ron. Which considering Drakken's 'ladies' were metallic, it was nearly crushing Drakken's poor legs under their combined weight but the blue skinned scientist was determined to not let the discomfort show. Slightly behind and on either side of Drakken's chair stood the last two Bebe robots, the Harley and original Bebe models.

Towards the back of the control room Dr. Mozenberg leaned against the cabin wall with his trusty Mantis by his side. Of all of them, he and Ron were simply dressed in the very expensive Italian designer suits that Ron had thoughtfully provided for him when he joined their group since neither he nor Ron never really had what one might call standard costumes.

Harley sitting on the floor next to Ron's chair resisted the urge to roll her eyes as she spoke to Drakken. "You know you are just being silly Dr. D. Those things must weigh a ton and that's gotta be crushing your legs. There is plenty of room left in here. Have them stand up or you won't be able to walk by the time we reach Africa."

Drakken even though almost wincing in pain still put his arms around the robots' waists. "Nonsense, I like having my ladies close." He said in an obvious attempt to imitate the way Ron talked about his group.

At this point Harley did roll her eyes. "You know this infantile desire to imitate Ron is not healthy."

"I have no idea what you are talking about." Drakken scowled.

"Whatever, I just hope you can still have feeling below your waist by the time we reach where we are going."

Bonnie glanced down at Ron sitting underneath her. "Me and Shego are not cutting off your circulation are we?" She asked as she wiggled as she shifted her weight.

Ron managed to gulp audibly. "No. I can safely say you and Shego sitting on my lap is doing nothing to restrict the blood flow to any part of my body." He said his voice slightly husky.

Harley giggled slightly as Ron started to blush and tried to keep from staring at the pair of breasts that were directly in his face. Harley stopped giggling after a moment however. "You know… It.. should be me and Ivy sitting in your lap anyway. I mean Shego and Bonnie went with you to the Amazon. Me and Ivy stayed back home. If anyone should get this chance for a little Ronshine and fun time it should be me and Ivy this trip." Harley pointed out.

"Uh huh. No way. We called it first." Shego told her with a smirk.

Ron his voice slightly higher replied. "There isn't going to be any 'fun time' this trip. It is too crowded for that."

Harley glanced over at Drakken and Mozenberg. "I don't know. I don't mind them watching."

Drakken swallowed and his eyes grew wide. "Really?"

Harley laughed. "No not really. Sheesh, what kind of gal do you take me for? I'm just jerking your chain yet again. You know, to get a rise out of you." Harley said with a smirk, satisfied that once again she had successfully teased Drakken.

"Well I would thank you to stop constantly trying to jerk me off…" Drakken replied crossly and blinked as he realized what he had said. "What I meant was I would prefer you to stop trying to get me to rise!" Realizing that sounded just as bad and that once again Harley had managed to make him look like a fool; Drakken clamped his mouth shut and turned a darker blue as he blushed.

Ron could feel as Bonnie started to shake a little as she tried hard to suppress her laughter at Drakken's expense, which of course drew Ron's gaze to Bonnie's corseted covered beasts as they jiggled in front of him. "This is going to be a long trip." He breathed.

"You know what I want to know is…" Harley began and everyone waited to see if she had a legitimate question or was going to bait Drakken again. "How did things get so bad in this African country anyway? What was its name again? Ethioswana? "

Ron nodded his head and started to answer her but stopped when the Harley Bebe took a step around Drakken's chair and answered for him. "I have detailed files on the political, economic and social issues of the country in question if you wish to hear them."

Harley really didn't want to go back to school but needing to kill some time and her first choice of sex being impossible because no matter how big a flirt she appeared, there was no way she was going to make out in front of Drakken or Mozenberg, well at least not go 'ALL" the way, she did have some restraint and modesty after all. She nodded her head at the robot image of herself. "Sure. Let's hear it."

"The country of Ethioswana is located near the exact center of the African continent. There were four ruling tribes each taking in turn the ruling of the entire country, changing every six years. The four tribes occupy the four cardinal points of the country, West, North, East and South. To the west was the Oolonga tribe, fierce warriors but smaller in numbers than the other tribes were. To the East was the Otunga tribe, mostly farmers. South was the tribe of Conso, mostly nomads that wandered their area never staying in one fixed location for any length of time. And to the North was the Tazo tribe. Twenty years ago, the Tazo tribe discovered vast gold and diamond deposits in their area of control. Using the money from their discovery, they purchased weapons, mercenaries and necessary political acceptance to topple the governing plan that had ruled their country for generations. They then set about to ethnically cleanse their country of all non Tazoian influence…."

"Ethnically cleanse?" Bonnie asked showing she too was paying attention. "That doesn't mean what I think it does, does it?"

The Harley Bebe turned its head to look at her. "The Tazoian government attempted to exterminate the other tribes. However, the United Nations threatened to invade if they did not stop that practice."

"So the tribe recently took the long term approach." Ron nearly growled. "They stopped attacking the other tribes directly but isolated them in their own areas and cut off all resources, leaving them to slowly starve to death in the country's blistering droughts."

The Harley Bebe inclined her head slightly in agreement. "The United Nations has drafted thirteen proclamations to help those tribes in need but…"

"The Tazoian government uses its wealth and military intimidations to make sure they are never carried out or undermine any efforts that make it past their restrictions." Ron added.

"Typical male dominated thinking. Kill everything instead of trying to find a peaceful solution. Women would have sought a more balanced natural solution. " Ivy muttered.

"Negative. The current Tazoian president is female." Harley/Bebe corrected her.

Ivy blinked. "Well I'm sure the first Tazoian in charge when they started this was male."

"Negative. The Tazoian tribe has always been governed by females, they are a matriarchal society."

"Ha!" Shouted Drakken. "So much for your belief that women would make better rulers, as any scientist could tell you, the female of the species is always the most deadly."

Mozenberg didn't say anything but he did nod his head in agreement. Ivy shot a look over at Ron to see if he was agreeing but Ron diplomatically and wisely kept all expression off of his face.

"Well of course we are the most deadly of the species doctors." Ivy replied to Drakken and Mozenberg. "We are also always the smartest and most effective of the species." Ivy stated with false sweetness.

Drakken started to open his mouth to reply but hesitated when he saw Harley looking at him and ever so slightly shake her head. One thing Harley had learned a long time ago was its not healthy for a male to argue with Ivy when she is explaining how females are superior to males.

"In any case…" Drakken finally started again. "Which of the tribes do you plan to help first? Are you just randomly acting out in a desire to prove your kindness and humanitarianism?"

Shego glared at Drakken and Ron could feel Bonnie tense up and her hand start to slide down to her waist where she kept the knife she had once threatened Drakken. Ron briefly tightened his grasp around both women's waists suggesting to them to let it go. "This has nothing to do with proving anything, either to myself or to the world Dr. D. This is about doing what is right and securing a possible stronghold if we need it in the future."

"Eh?"

Harley rolled her eyes at the man yet again. "What Ron is saying is he is doing it because it is the right thing to do but not only that but if we attempt to take over the world we may need a country that is favorable to us to retreat to if things get too hot. I mean what kind of idiot tries to take over the world but has nowhere to retreat to if things fall apart?"

The Bebe robots in Drakken's lap turned to look at him and Drakken looking up noticed the other two on either side of his chair were looking at him as well. "What?" He asked in annoyance.

To his surprise, they answered him. Bebe #1 replied. "Review of historical records show that you have made that error several times in the past."

Drakken would have risen to his feet in anger if he hadn't been pinned down by the weight of Bebe #3 and Bebe #4. "I do not make errors. I am the Leader, remember?" He shouted at the Bebes.

"Easy Dr. D." Ron called out to him. "Everyone makes mistakes. It is what helps us to learn and improve."

"Maybe for a buffoon." Drakken said dismissively. "But I refuse to admit I ever made a mistake. Er, I mean I never made any mistakes. My past failures to take over the world are always due to something beyond my control, machine malfunctions, henchpeople's failings or interference from certain people." He said glaring at Ron across from him.

Rufus who had climbed out of the breast pocket of Ron's suit blew a raspberry at him and took his spot on Ron's shoulder. Ron however just shrugged his shoulders. "Whatever dude. I just think if you refuse to see where you went wrong, how can you ever improve?"

Harley who had been staring at her Bebe counterpart noticed that the robots eyes glowed red for a moment and quickly looking at the other Bebes she noticed the same thing. She had already learned to associated that action with the Bebes' 'sharing a thought' and wonder what they made of Ron and Drakken's conversations. With that wacky and arrogant doctor's programming running through them, they were probably agreeing with their maker and leader that Ron was inferior to their precious leader. This worried Harley a great deal. If the robots acting on orders from Drakken were to attack Ron, she didn't know how her or Ivy would be able to protect him. From what she had seen those robots could moved lightning fast and she could only imagine the damage they could inflict.

A pinging noise from a console alerted Ron and the group to the fact they had arrived at their destination. "Um, which tribe are we going to help first?" Harley asked, being reminded that Ron had never had a chance to answer Drakken's earlier question.

"The Otunga tribe." Ivy answered instead of Ron.

Drakken and Harley turned to look at the plant scientist turned villain after noticing Ron nodding his head in agreement. "How did you know?" Drakken asked.

Ivy rolled her eyes. "Isn't it obvious?" Seeing their blank stares, and sending a reprimanding glare at her lover Harley, Ivy held up her hand and started to tick off points on her fingers. "Government, warriors, nomads and…"

Harley brought one of her hands up to her forehead as if smacking it. "Doh of course, farmers, who else do you take plants to but farmers?"

As Shego and Bonnie got up from his lap and Ron rose to his feet, he nodded his head. "I figure they will be the most receptive to strange plants and realize their food potential the easiest. Once we have their fields producing a surplus of food they can make contact with the other tribes being persecuted by the Tazoian government and help them." Ron reaching a view screen overlooking the land turned to look back at Ivy. "Okay Ivy, you are our plant expert. What is the best way to seed their farmlands? Drop the seeds first and then make rain or the other way around?"

Ivy reached his side and looked down on the dusty wasteland that used to be the lush farmlands of the Otunga tribe. "Have this contraption make a very gentle rain. Too much water falling too fast and we'll wash away what little topsoil the winds and time haven't already taken. Once the soil is damp enough, we'll drop my special seeds and then you can have it gently rain again so the seeds can germinate and begin growing."

"Won't it at least take a day before that happens?" Drakken asked, having finally gotten feeling back into his legs after making his Bebe robots get up off of him and walking over to glance down as well.

Ivy snorted. "My babies grow almost instantly. I thought you had at least noticed that fact."

Shego maneuvered and pushed into a chair in front of the main console and she activated the switches necessary to send the proper commands to the weather machine to being producing a gentle light rain instead of the torrents that Drakken had once used in his bid to take over Canada so long ago.

After about ten minutes of rain, Ivy reached over and pressed the release on the storage room doors allowing her special seeds to fall to the fields below. In a matter of moments, the plants started to sprout and grow till they filled the fields with new green life.

Harley rather than push into what was quickly becoming a crowded control room settled for looking out a porthole in the side of the machine near the rear of the craft and watched as villagers began to leave their broken down hovels to come out into the rain. Her smile faded as she noticed the people below didn't dance in the rain or raise their hands excitedly into the air as she expected them to, but instead just stared up hopelessly into the skies letting the water wash their faces.

Her frown turned to a gasp as she noticed young children coming out to see the rain as well and that most of them were on crutches or being helped by other children as some of them were missing limbs. Here a missing leg, there a missing arm and in some cases, missing both legs and arms.

"You don't get that from malnutrition." She said shakily but low enough that the ones in the front cabin who were concentrating on making weather and growing plants didn't hear her or hadn't noticed the villagers yet.

"Affirmative." A Bebe voice said at her ear. Turning quickly Harley found Bebe #1 was standing behind her. That was the one with the blond hair shaped in a 50's style. "What?" Harley asked backing up a little to press against the side of the ship.

The Bebe robot cocked her head to the side as she studied Harley. "Increase in blood pressure and breathing indicated that you are fearfully of this Bebe."

"You startled me is all." Harley replied. "What were you saying affirmative to?"

"The missing limbs of the humans below are not from malnutrition. Bebe sensors detect the location of thirty four anti-personnel devices located at various spots surrounding the village and depressions in the land mass that suggest of twenty more already previously detonated devices."

Harley looked at the robot blankly for a moment before blinking. "You mean landmines?!"

"Affirmative. The village below us is surrounded by a perimeter of landmines."

Harley turned back to the porthole to stare at horror at the children dragging, scuttling in the rain. "Those children are the victims of …" Her voice faded at the horror of the realization.

"Landmines." Bebe #1 helpfully added.

"Ronnie!" Harley shouted as she raced to the front of the airship, only to arrive to see a grim faced Ron standing with his arms folded over his chest angrily. Next to him, Bebe #4, the one made to look like Bonnie, stood. It was obvious from the tense set of Ron's shoulders and the quivering of his jawline that Ron had already had the situation with the children below brought to his attention.

Ron was staring over Harley's shoulder at something behind her, so the young woman turned to look and found Mozenberg standing there.

"You knew?" Ron asked.

Mozenberg gave a shrug of his shoulders. "More like I expected it Herr Stoppable. I've followed the reports on the news about this country for the last few years, and even though they never mentioned anything about landmines, I wondered why the people remained in what is essentially a deathtrap? Why did they not seek refuge in surrounding countries? There was never a report on the news about such a thing occurring so I concluded they probably either couldn't bring themselves to leave their homeland or were being physically prevented from leaving this place." Mozenberg's blank expression gave way to one of extreme disgust. "And in my experience when a government wants to keep someone from leaving an area but doesn't want to be caught doing it, they do it with landmines."

There was silence in the airship for a moment as everyone in the group tried to accept the fact that one group of people could be so evil as to deliberately trap another group of people in a hopeless situation and then ring them with landmines to make sure they remained and suffered.

"You will allow me to help those unfortunates, Ja?" Doctor Mozenberg asked.

Ron opened his mouth to reply of course. What kind of man wouldn't but before he could Drakken spoke up.

"It's not our problem. We are feeding them at least, isn't that enough?"

Drakken became aware of the intense quiet of the airship and turning in the chair he had acquired he could see that everyone was looking at him in extreme disgust, well everyone except his Bebe robots. "It is not that I don't care about what has happened to the children of this village…" Drakken began to explain. "It is just that it will take time to heal that many victims and during that time we risk being found here."

A sudden bright glare of light hit the side of the cloaked weather machine and it immediately began listing to the side.

"What happened?" Shego shouted as she frantically hit switches trying to stabilize the airship. Outside they could see that the clouds they had created were being parted as if by a giant hand as intense beams of light lanced downwards vaporizing the clouds and moisture in the air.

"We are under attack." Bebe #4 calmly reported.

"How? Where?" Drakken asked as he frantically scanned the skies.

Another intense beam of light hit the front of the weather machine and it started to go down.

As the cloaked weather machine descended, it started to flicker and fade into view. Finally, as the machine came to a firm rest on the ground, the damaged cloaking field gave up the ghost and the invisibility field crashed and was gone completely.

"What the hell happened?" Drakken clutching a guard rail demanded once again.

"Didn't you hear the first time?" Harley replied as she slid under the railing near him and then doing a forward flip landed on her feet in front of a console and tried to determine how much damage had been done to their ship. "We were attacked."

"Attacked? Impossible! I was monitoring the airspace around us the entire time and there was nothing there!"

"They must have been cloaked as we were." Ron said but more of as a question to Bebe #1 standing nearby.

"Affimative." Bebe #1 confirmed his suspicions. "Reverse path of beam that hit us confirms location. Their field isn't as efficient as ours was and now that Bebes know what to look for we are now capable of tracking them."

"Then launch a counterattack!" Drakken shouted at 'her'.

All the Bebes turned to look at him. "Using what form of weapons Leader? This airship is not armed with offensive capabilities."

Drakken spun to stare accusingly at Ron. "This is all your fault. Before you rushed off to try and save your precious village, you should have armed this thing! Now we are all going to die!"

"Shut up!" Ivy growled at Drakken. "I didn't hear you suggest anything like that before we left. You were just like the rest of us. We all assumed that the ruling government would be satisfied with starving their people, who knew they had cloaked military guarding them as well?"

Ron stood in the front of the weather machine's main window staring at the skies where bright flashes of light continued to shoot through the clouds, drying them up instantly of the life giving moisture they were trying to part with. "A cloaked military would make no sense." He said in a normal voice that yet carried to everyone on the ship.

"What? If it wasn't a military aircraft that shot us down genius, then what was it?" Drakken asked mockingly as he placed his hands on his hips.

"We weren't targeted Dr. D." Ron replied again calmly. "Didn't you hear the Bebes? They said our cloak was much better than the enemies, meaning they didn't even see us." Ron turned to look at the Bebe standing near him. "Have you analyzed what the beam is made up of?" He asked her.

"Affirmative. Focused solar energy."

"Huh?" Drakken asked.

"It's a sunbeam Doc." Ron answered. "Like a giant magnifying glass, the government is using a cloaked weather machine of their own, but in their case they are using it to dry up any moisture in the air. Our rain clouds triggered it and we just got hit a few times randomly as it tried to dry up our clouds."

Harley turned to stare at Ron. "You mean not only did the government leave some of their people to die in a drought…"

"They created the drought themselves." Ron said.

Drakken turned to his Bebes. "So the government cloaked weather machine is automated?"

"Random pattern of dispersing heat beams would indicate that is so."

"Then that means they don't know we are here yet! We can sneak off and they'll never know." Drakken replied happily.

"And Ivy's plants burn in the fields and the people stay hungry and dying." Ron said turning to stare him down.

"You heard the Bebes, we have no weapons. So how do you plan to take down the government weather machine?" Drakken replied smugly thinking he had Ron this time and this would prove that Ron was no leader and that Drakken was the best one to lead them all.

Ron looked thoughtful and glancing out the front window, he could see some of the villagers making their ways toward their craft now that it was down and they could see it. The sight of children dragging deformed limbs behind them was tearing him apart inside. Suddenly he blinked and turned to Bebe #4, which was closest to him at that moment.

"I need to ask you Bebes a question and I need you to consider your answer very carefully before answering me."

Bebe #4 eyes flashed and she nodded her head.

"The landmines that ring this village, using your super speeds, could you dig them out and throw them away before they detonated?"

Bebe #4 replied instantly. "Affirmative."

"Can you do that without causing harm to yourselves? I have an idea in mind but I won't even try it if it means one of you might become damaged."

The Bebe hesitated only a fraction of a second before replying. "Affirmative."

"Can you hurl the mine far enough away that no humans will be harmed by the shrapnel?"

"Affirmative."

Ron finally smiled. "And can you throw them high enough to hit that automated weather machine up there?"

All of the Bebe eyes flashed and as one, they turned and walked to the front of the airship to stare upwards through its front window. Their eyes tracking the government airship that was still invisible to the humans' eyes. "The automated government weather machine follows a rigid pattern. We Bebes could easily target it and throw the acquired landmines in its path." Bebe #1 answered for the group.

"Then there is our weapons to use against the government machine." Ron replied with a grim smile. "Fitting in a way, destroy one tool of the corrupt government with another of theirs. Will you Bebes please do this for me?"

The Bebes turned to look at Drakken as a nearby solar beam burned and dried instantly the damp ground near their grounded airship.

"Yes! Do whatever it takes to stop that machine before it fries us!" Drakken shouted and dove under the chair he had been sitting in. Ron and the rest of the group frowned and shook their heads at him.

The Bebes without a further word zipped into hyperspeed and disappeared from inside their weather machine. The only indication of what direction they had gone was the now swinging open door leading to the outside. Ron and the rest strolled over to the door and went outside to watch, leaving Drakken under his chair for a moment before he realized he was now alone.

Watching carefully Ron and the rest would just catch a glimpse of a Bebe on the outskirts of town as they paused for a brief moment next to a location of a landmine bend over and then moving their hands so fast they blurred, they would sweep the dirt back from the hidden infernal devices and pluck them out of the ground, stand up and hurl them upwards without pause.

Most people have the mistaken belief that a landmine explodes immediately upon being disturbed. This isn't true, almost all landmines have a 'lag time' between being activated and detonating, especially the chemical triggered types in use around this particular village.

These landmines work on a chemical reaction trigger. When someone steps on one, it breaks a glass vial that allows chemicals inside it to mix with the chemicals in the rest of the mine. The resulting chemical reaction causes the deadly explosion. The time between breaking the 'fuse' and the detonation of the mine is of course very minimal. Usually just long enough for a human to step on one, hear and feel the crunch of the trigger being depressed and know they are about to be blown up, a matter of seconds at most. But Bebes didn't work in seconds, in their hyperspeed modes they worked in a matter of milliseconds. Certainly long enough to uncover a mine, pick it up and get rid of it before the chemicals could even hope to mix.

Like an angry swarm of killer Frisbees, the freed mines flew up into the few remaining clouds in the sky, directly into the path of the automated government weather machine and exploded, ripping the cloaked aircraft to pieces. Ron, Shego and the rest watched as the now visible automated government airship slowly crashed into the nearby mountains, far away from the village it once had terrorized.

Feeling a breeze beside him, Ron glanced over to see the Harley sculpted Bebe standing next to him. "There are still ten mines left around this village. Would you like for us Bebes to continue to remove them and throw them far enough away from the village so they can no longer do damage to any humans?"

Ron smiled at her. "Yes, please and thank you."

The Bebe bot blurred and was gone as she returned to hyperspeed to continue to carry out Ron's will.

The villagers of course had not failed to notice the strange metallic women as they would appear, blur and then disappear again. One young girl about age six seeing one of the women appear at the edge of town near her started running in that direction to try and catch another glimpse of the strange 'angels' that seemed to be clearing her town of the deadly objects that had harmed so many of her friends. The girl while not missing any limbs like so many of the children, still was painfully thin.

Bebe #3 paused after removing yet another mine and quickly scanned the area she was in. There were only a few mines left to be removed and they were in her area so her fellow Bebe bots had left them for her to remove. Spotting another one, the Bebe bot started to blur into motion but paused as her sensors picked up a small human coming in her direction. Turning her optic sensors in that direction, the Shego Bebe noticed one of the unexploded mines lay directly in the young human's path. Faster than a human could blink, Bebe #3 analyzed the speed of the child, the maximum speed Bebe #3 could move and the distance between her and the child, and the child and the deadly mine and reached a conclusion. There was no way that she could reach the child before the child would step on the mine activating it. There was not even enough time for Bebe #3 to consult the other Bebes, even with their high speed network so Bebe #3 blurred into instant action.

The child named Sadaka paused as she heard a crunch underneath her foot. Her eyes started to grow wide in terror as she had heard that noise many a time before, never near her but near her friends, friends who had lost legs and arms while trying to forage for food for their families by venturing out away from the village to search. Sadaka knew that sound and knew it meant at the very least she was about to be in tremendous pain, if not die in the next moments.

As Bebe #3 raced across the ground moving so fast that no human eye could track her, she sent out a signal to her 'sister' Bebe #2, which was the closest to her. Leaving hyperspeed Bebe #3 didn't pause for a moment but boldly picked up the frozen child standing on the landmine she had activated and flung her away. Sadaka didn't even have time to open her mouth to scream as she felt herself lifted into the air and thrown. She thought the mine had exploded and had cast her into the air and was waiting for the pain she knew was coming to hit her when she suddenly found herself caught in mid air and was being held by one of the 'angels' clearing the fields. The angel had blond hair in pigtails and was wearing a sleeveless dark shirt of some kind. Her face was kind looking if strangely unmoving.

Bebe #2 stared down at the child she had caught out of mid air after having Bebe #3 hurl the girl in her direction. A loud explosion went off and Bebe #2 turned her back towards it to protect the small child in her arms from any shrapnel that might come their way. Turning to look back at the explosion site both the young African girl and the robot could see Bebe #3 lying on the ground twitching, its left leg lying a few feet away in one direction, while its right arm lay a few feet in another direction.

Sadaka took in a deep breath and tears started to form in her large brown eyes. She knew that the angel on the ground had saved her from being harmed by the landmine but had taken the damage herself.

"Why do you cry?" Bebe #2 asked her as she started to head over to her fallen 'sister's' side, all the while continuing to cradle the child in her metallic arms.

"The angel got hurt saving me." The girl replied in her native language. She hadn't understood the angel holding her words but was merely crying out loud, over what had occurred.

"We are not angels. We are Bebe." Bebe #2 replied perfectly in the girl's native language.

The child still sniffling looked up at her. "All of you are Bebe?"

Bebe #2 nodded her head.

"How do you tell each other apart?" The girl asked.

"I am number 2. The one that has become damaged rescuing you is number 3."

Being reminded that one of them had been hurt badly saving her made the young girl start to cry once again.

As Bebe #2 tried to decide what to do to calm the crying human, Ron and the rest of his group ran up.

"What happened Ron asked as he kneeled down to check on the damaged Bebe unit that looked so much like his love Shego. The damaged robot looked in his direction. She was missing one of her eyes and the other one seemed to have trouble focusing on him.

"This Bebe unit is damaged. Recommended course of action is to salvage whatever parts are still useable and scrap this unit." She said, her voice buzzing and slurring.

"Nonsense." Ron stated. "You can be repaired." Ron looked up as Drakken finally made it over to them. "Right?"

Drakken shrugged. "Why bother?"

"What?!" Ron shouted as he stood up to glare at Drakken.

"She is just a machine." Drakken replied as if talking to a slow witted child. "It's damaged." Reaching into a pocket on his lab coat Drakken pulled out a remote control with a button on the end. Clicking a dial on the device, he set it to the number of the damaged Bebe and started to press the button when Ron caught his hand.

"What are you doing?" Ron demanded.

"I'm destroying her. She's a failed prototype."

Neither of them noticed that they had been joined by the other Bebes and some of the villagers including a man with pure white hair who was watching what was going on curiously.

"I will not let you destroy her. She saved a child from injury. She deserves to be repaired for her service, not thrown heartlessly away for it!"

Before Drakken could point out how idiotically Ron was acting, the remote control detonator was taken from him by a glowing blue eyed Ron, who crushed the device in his bare hands before dropping it. Ron said nothing more to the blue skinned scientist but dropped down to his knees next to the badly damaged Bebe #3. "How are you?" he asked.

"Are you asking for a status report?" The robot asked as it once again tried to focus her optical units on his face.

"Yes."

"This Bebe unit is at 45% efficiency. Bipedal locomotion is damaged. Usage of one arm is damaged. Optical sensors are damaged…."

"But your mental capabilities are undamaged?" Ron asked her.

"Affirmative." The robot answered weakly.

"Your power source. How is that?" Ron answered.

"35% and failing."

Ron looked up at Bebe #1. "Can Bebe #3 be repaired with what we have on hand here?" He asked.

Bebe unit #1 turned slowly as her eyes scanned the village for anything that could be used to make repairs. Raising her arm, she pointed over to a wrecked and partially blown up car. "Temporary structural repairs could be attempted with metal from that destroyed vehicle. To stop degradation from failing power source, a secondary battery unit of some type would be required to help maintain mental processors until primary power unit could be repaired."

Drakken still annoyed that Ron was interfering in his Bebes snorted. "Not much luck in this primitive village. I doubt they even know what electricity is."

The white haired African man frowned at him. "I will have you know that we have several batteries and a backup generator in our village. Until our recent plight with our fellow tribes we used to have a radio station and a television station." He said in perfect English.

Drakken blinked at him. "You speak English?"

"Well doh." Harley said shaking her head. "You just heard him didn't ya?"

The ancient looking man smiled down at Harley. "I was educated in Cambridge. Indeed twenty years ago I was president of this country."

His smile faded. "That was of course before my reign was ended abruptly by my opponent the Tazoian Serafina."

Ron stood up to face the man. "Sir, may we borrow the parts we need to repair our friend?"

The white haired man looked at Ron and then at the robot on the ground and raised an eyebrow. "It is obvious that is a machine. You consider her a friend?"

Ron nodded his head. "Yes, yes I do." He said passionately.

Harley once again noticed the other Bebes' eyes flash in unison.

"She saved me papa." The young girl still being held by Bebe #2 spoke. It was in her language so Ron and the rest of the human part of his group could not understand what she said but the Bebes did.

"Did she?" The white haired man asked in their language. "How did she do that?"

"I was running to see the angels here when I stepped on a landmine. She grabbed me and threw me to this angel and took the explosion meant for me papa." The girl replied and looked downward to avoid seeing the anger she knew would be coming from her father.

"How many times have I told you to not leave the edge of the village? How many of your friends have you seen mutilated by the mines Sadaka?" The old man sighed and when he spoke again, it was once again in flawless English. "My daughter tells me that the machine saved her life. Anything in the village you can use to repair it is yours for the taking."

Ron nodded at the Bebes and Harley couldn't help but notice this time the machines never once looked for authorization from Drakken before moving on Ron's orders. The one holding the young girl gently sat her down and kneeled down and said something to the girl in her own language before rising and joining her other 'sisters' in looking for parts to repair the fallen Bebe #3.

Turning the white haired village elder, who at one time was president of an entire country, looked over all the strange people in Ron's group. There were women with green tinted skin, one woman who was wearing a costume with a white face that if he hadn't been educated in the Western world, he would have assumed was some kind of tribal witchdoctor with her outlandish costume but having been classically taught he recognized the costume as a variant of a medieval jester's outfit of some type. And one of the green tinted women was dressed as if she was some kind of nature goddess. Then there were the metallic machine women that his daughter called angels and a strange man with a bald head wearing an expensive suit with the strangest looking object in the group standing next to him. It was obviously another machine but this one had an insect like head on it and instead of anything remotely human shaped. For a body it had a perfect round cylinder with no visible legs or arms.

As the group continued to stand, more and more villagers gathered to see the newcomers, including several badly handicapped children being pulled in carts by the other children.

The insect like machine suddenly moved forward causing the villagers to shrink back in fear.

"Nein Mantis, be still." Mozenberg spoke to his machine.

"But they are harmed." A woman's voice called out from the machine shocking Ron and the rest of his group whom had never heard the machine speak before and didn't even know it could. Mantis's voice was deep and husky and reminded Ron of some female lounge singers he had seen in France while on a mission with Kim. "They are harmed. Let me heal them please?" Mantis added with a very human sounding desperation in her voice.

The white haired village elder looked in surprise at Mozenberg and then glanced to where the machine was obviously looking and saw that the machine had been talking about the children that had been harmed by the landmines. "It can heal?"

"Ja." Mozenberg replied. "I mean yes. My Mantis can grow limbs and reattach them. She wants to help. Will you allow it?"

The old man eyed Mozenberg skeptically. "How can you grow limbs to replace those that have been lost for years?"

Ron stepped forward. "He can do it sir. I've seen his work and he is a great healer. Please let us help your people."

The elderly man's face grew hard. "And what will you require for this service?" He asked.

Ron looked confused. "I don't want anything sir. I just want to help the children."

The white haired elder shook his head. "I've been alive a long time young one. I've seen my own country's people smile and offer help, only to seal us off and try to kill us. I've seen Westerners show up telling how they will feed and protect my people, only to film their commercials to make money off of us and leave, leaving nothing but a few precious boxes of rations and never show up again to fulfill their promises of further food and help. Why should I believe your promises?"

Ivy stepped forward drawing attention to herself. "Because Ron is different." She stated.

"And how is he different?"

"He didn't promise to feed you someday and then fail to show up. He came and gave you food without making promises or asking for anything in return and if we hadn't been attacked you would never have known he had been here." Ivy said gesturing to the growing farm fields behind them. Her plants being bred to be extra hardy hadn't been too adversely affected by the concentrated sunbeams of earlier and were even now recovering and flourishing.

The elder wanted to ask how he knew the plants were safe to eat and not just another way to kill his people off but realized it was a fruitless question to ask as several of the villagers having been on the brink of starvation for years with only what food their desperate children could forge for them from the wilds or the scraps left by Westerners visiting his village as if it was some kind of grotesque amusement park , were already harvesting the mellons and root vegetable and were eating them as they watched.

The village elder opened his mouth to deny them their request but was stopped by Harley placing a hand on his arm. "Is there really any reason to prevent us from at least trying to help? Can we make their lives any worse than they are now?"

The old man turned to look at the children who were deformed and mutilated by the hands of what he had once considered his own people and sighed. "If you can indeed heal them, how can I refuse your offer?" He finally stated.

Mantis immediately began to move forward but once again, the villagers pulled away fearfully.

Perhaps it was because the Bebe lying damaged on the ground had been harmed in a way that so many of them had been and understood all too well or maybe it was because the children thought of her in the same way that Sadaka had, that she was an angel from the heavens to help them that caused the downed robot to be the center of attention by the children. Whatever the reason was, all the injured children had gathered around her body and were staring down at her. As Mantis tried to reach them, they like their parents tried to pull away in fear.

"Do not fear." Bebe #3 in their language managed to say. "The Mantis will not harm you."

One child sitting propped up in a cart being pulled by her brother because she was missing her legs reached out and touched the fallen angel on the ground's good hand. "We'll you stay with me while that thing is nearby?" She asked Bebe #3 in a timid voice in her own language.

Bebe #3 turned her head to look at the child with her one good optic sensor. "I will."

The child nodded her head and then looked at the nearby Mantis. "Then I am willing to be first."

Mantis moved over to where the child and Bebe #3 were, the crowd parting as it came. Reaching them the head lifted up, then lowered on a stalk like appendage till it was eyelevel with the child, and cocked its head side to side, as it analyzed all the damage done to the poor child. The child in spite of her confidence that the fallen angel next to her would protect her still flinched as a metallic arm extended from the surface of the smooth metal cylinder body of Mantis and weaved its way towards her. Bebe #3 gently squeezed the child's hand to let her know she was still with her and she would not let Mantis harm her.

Mantis 'hand' reached the child and gently pressed on a spot on the bare stub of her leg that was left after the landmine had nearly ripped her apart a few months ago. The child frowned as a slight hiss noise was heard from the metallic arm but she felt no sting or pain at all, just an almost gently sucking feeling as if a suction cup from a toy arrow had briefly touched her skin and then pulled away.

The village elder had moved closer to observe what the newcomers' machine was going to do and looked at the bald man that seemed to be the machine's creator.

Mozenberg sensing that the village's leader wanted answers said. "Mantis first samples the child's D.N.A. and now will genetically recreate the missing limb."

A slight popping noise was heard and everyone watching could see a slot open up on the Mantis's round body and a glass tube extended from inside it. Inside the glass tube could be seen something slowly forming in the clear liquid inside it. Many of the villagers recoiled in horror as the object grew and formed till it resembled a child's bare leg and foot. As the leg fully formed, it could be seen that it was the right size and shape for the one that the child had lost but was very pale. Another metallic appendage formed on the side of the Mantis robot body and gently reached in and pulled the wet leg out. Some of the village women made the symbol of the cross in front of them as the robot lowered the leg towards where the child lay. More appendages came out of the side of Mantis's body and as the leg neared the stump of the child, the other limbs circled. Bright lights flashed, so brightly none could look directly at the leg but when the lights shut off everyone could see the grown limb was now attached to the child. Most of the other appendages retracted into Mantis's body but one remained. From that one limb, multiple smaller appendages extended outwards. Some of the smaller worm like arms pressed on points of where the girl's stump had been and others pressed on the newly created leg.

"Mantis is now reattaching the nerves from the subject's body to the new limb." Mozenberg offered.

Finally, the smaller appendages retracted to the larger one and a bulb like tip formed on the end of it. A light once again shined on the leg but not as brightly as the others had been. Everyone could see the pale leg slowly darken in color till it matched the deep mahogany color of the rest of the child's body.

Everyone had been so enthralled with what was going on that no one had noticed that while all this had been happening, the glass tube had retracted back into Mantis's body and had then come out again. Another new leg had formed but this one a right leg instead of the left one that had been reattached. Once again, Mantis went through the steps she had done to the first leg and within ten minutes, the child now had two perfectly formed, natural looking legs and feet.

"Try them out." Mantis's voice called out to the child but since Mantis could not speak her language, she stared at the machine blankly until Bebe #3 translated for her. The child looked to where she was still clutching Bebe's hand.

"I cannot rise with you as I am still damaged." Bebe #3 explained. "You will have to rise on your own."

The child looked unsure but finally gripping the sides of the low cart she was sitting in, she tried to stand up and rose shakily to her feet as the people of the village watched with wide eyes.

"How do they feel?" Ron asked in a soft and yes, awed voice.

Bebe #3 translated for him.

The child took a few tentative steps and turned to look at Bebe #3. She excitedly rattled something off in her language.

"She says they tingle a bit like she had been sitting on them for too long but other than that they feel like her legs used to." Bebe #3 translated for Ron and his English speaking group.

The child with a happy cry ran over to a couple who had been watching with tears in their eyes and threw herself into their arms. Her brother who had pulled the cart for his sister these many months joined in the happy family hug. As everyone cheered and more injured children pressed forward to be healed by Mantis, the white haired village elder gestured for Ron to join him away from the crowd.

Ron trying to casually wipe the tears from his eyes joined him.

"You have brought us food and healed our lame. Again I ask what is it you wish in payment for these services?" The once proud but now nearly broken African gentlemen asked.

"I want nothing from you." Ron one again assured him.

"You are just a saint that just travels around with high tech equipment seeking to help those in need?" The man asked skeptically.

Ron smiled. "I'm no saint or savior, just a man that decided it was time for people to act like people instead of animals. If you feel like you must owe me something, owe me friendship and understanding."

The elder watched him closely for a moment and then slowly shook his head. "I have been alive a long time and many times I prayed to the gods to see someone like you come. I am happy I have lived long to see it."

Ron tried to resist the urge to shuffle his feet. He was getting uncomfortable with all the praise. Was it so hard to believe that someone would want to see starving people fed and children able to run again and not suspect they were doing it for an ulterior motive? And really, he didn't do anything. If anyone deserved praise, it was…

"You know I really didn't do anything." Ron said to the Elder. "Mozenberg is the creator of Mantis and Mantis did all the work. If you wish to honor or praise anyone for healing your children, you should praise Mantis and her creator. And I was not the one that created the food plants we have planted in your fields, that was Ivy over there. And the one who built the Bebes that have cleared your land of the landmines was Dr. Drakken. The blue skinned man over there."

The Elder looked at Ron out of the corner of his eye as he looked at the horizon. "And would this Mozenberg or Ivy or Dr. Drakken be here with his creations if not for you?"

"Maybe not today, but I believe Mozenberg would have eventually found his own way here without me. He cares for people a great deal and wants to heal. I just…. Helped a little I guess. And I know in my heart sooner or later Ivy would have learned about your village and her and Harley would have come to help."

"And your Dr. Drakken? Would he have found his way with his Bebes to my village on his own?"

Ron started to open his mouth to answer but then shut it again. After a moment, he replied. "He's really a decent person once you get to know him?"

The white haired village elder looked over to where more and more children were now running and grasping on to their families with legs and hands that until recently had been gone. He watched as some of the newly healed children ran to the fields and brought back the food plants that had grown there and fed their parents who were too weak to make the trip themselves. "Helped a little." He repeated Ron's words. "You and your companions have helped a great deal. You have given my village a new lease on life and new hopes for tomorrow and somehow I have the feeling if you had not gathered them and led them here, it would not have happened." The village elder held out his hand to Ron in a Western gesture for a handshake.

"My name is Tafiti, Tafiti Takata."

Ron grasped the man's hand. "My name is Ron, Ron Stoppable."

Tafiti raised an eyebrow. "That name…it is familiar to me. Did you not used to travel with a redhead by the name of Kim Possible?"

Tafiti noticed a look of pain crossed Ron's face before the young man nodded. "Once I did but now I travel with my friends here." Ron released the man's hand and pointed out each of the members of his group. "Ivy, Harley, Dr. Drakken, Mozenberg, Shego and of course Mantis and the Bebes."

Tafiti chuckled, making Ron glance at him to see what was funny. "No offense Ron Stoppable but I've never met a man before that introduces machines in the same manner as the people he knows."

Ron gave a half shrug. "Machines are people too. Well, sometimes anyway." Feeling tiny paws climbing up his jacket Ron resisted the urge to smack his forehead. "Oh and I almost forgot. This is Rufus."

"Ah. A naked molerat?" Tafiti stated leaning toward Ron to get a better look at Rufus. "Do be careful the other villagers do not see him."

Rufus frowned and folded his arms. "Why?" He squeaked almost insulted.

The village elder's eyebrow almost disappeared into the pure white hair of his head at hearing the molerat ask a very clear question and he appeared slightly nervous. "Food has been scarce here for years. My people have had to eat what they could find." He replied.

Rufus and Ron shared a look of confusion before Ron's eyes cleared and he looked horrified. "They have been eating….?"

Rufus squeaked, as his eyes grew wide with realization as well. "Molerat?" Without another word, Rufus scurried down Ron's chest back to his jacket pocket and disappeared inside.

Ron and Tafiti returned to the crowd to see that most of the children had been healed by Mantis and Bebe #3 was now standing. It was true that she was no longer as sleek or as attractive as she once had been but the other Bebes had done a marvelous job repairing her with what they had found. She now had a rough welded metal leg to replace the one she had lost and while it allowed her to move around, she would never be able to enter hyperspeed mode again and was reduced to human speeds only. A car battery was strapped to her back, helping to augment her damaged power supply.

In the now disused television station that had once been the center of the village, the Bebes had found a broken TV camera and had salvaged the lens from it and had managed to repair her eye. While a little disconcerting to see the lens instead of her normal eye, Ron took it in stride.

"You look as good as new." Ron told her/it.

Drakken snorted. "She looks like a cobbled together mess if you ask me."

"Well, no one asked ya." Harley growled at him.

"Yeah Dr. D. It is only temporary anyway. Once we get her back home you can repair her fully." Shego told him as she eyed her metallic mirror image that was now deformed.

Bebe #3's normal optical sensor flashed red for a moment and she awkwardly stepped towards Ron. "This Bebe has a request."

Ron glanced over at Drakken expecting the request would be directed at him but after a moment realized the robot was looking squarely at him. "Um, sure. What is it?"

"This Bebe unit would like to remain behind in this village."

Ron blinked. "Um, okay but why?"

"This Bebe unit has learned that the children have no teacher or schools due to government interference. This Bebe unit would like to remain to educate and protect."

Ron eyes widened. "You want to stay behind and become their teacher?"

"Affirmative."

Drakken stomped over to stand in front of Bebe #3. "Absolutely not!"

"What's the big deal?" Harley asked him annoyed once again.

"I am not leaving one of my Bebes behind unless it is destroyed. The government could seize it reverse engineer it!"

Everyone turned to look at Ron who had a hand up to his chin and was lost in thought. Finally, he looked up. "I screwed up didn't I?" He asked.

"What?" Shego asked in shock.

"We have fed and helped these people but what will stop their government from rolling in here and tearing up their fields and replacing the land mines again?" Ron sighed. "I'm afraid Dr. D. is right Bebe 3. You are damaged and if the military was to come in here, I don't think you could take them on all by yourself and they would manage to destroy you and then use your technology to build weapons. So…"

Ron got no farther as Bebe #2 and #4 stepped forward. "We shall remain to help defend this village and protect #3."

"But…But…" Drakken sputtered.

"With our connection to the hive mind, we will be able to hold off any human force long enough for reinforcements to be sent." Bebe #2, the one made to resemble Harley told him.

Bebe #4, the one that looked like Bonnie looked at Ron. "It will make all your efforts a waste of time if you do not leave us behind to protect the village."

"Um, it's not really my decision…" Ron started.

"The children will be harmed again." Bebe #4 pointed out in a softer tone, very unlike a Bebe.

"Right." Ron replied all doubts fading from his face. "If the village doesn't mind you Bebes being here, you will stay and teach and protect them and we will back often to visit."

"Excuse me?" Dr. Drakken shouted. "Are you forgetting that the Bebes are mine to command? I am their leader. Not you!"

Ron turned to look at Drakken. "That is true. But I purchased the weather machine and the equipment used to make the Bebes, so if you don't like their decision, you can stay here with your creations when the rest of us return home."

Drakken nearly purpling in rage suddenly backed down. "Very well. Bebe #2, 3, and 4 can remain here. Obviously they are failed prototypes anyway!" Turning his back on the group, he stormed off towards the weather machine with Bebe #1 trailing after him.

As soon as they were out of ear shot of the others, Drakken quietly said to Bebe #1. "Signal the hive mind to start the automated equipment to manufacture the ultra Bebes using the Luna stone. Tell them that they are to use your image as the model, since you alone were loyal to me. The first models off the line are to seek out and acquire material to continue building more Bebes. Do not stop the process until every ounce of the Luna stone is used up."

Bebe #1's eyes flashed but she didn't reply.

"We shall see once we get back, who it is that rules." Drakken promised quietly.


	26. Chapter 26

Partners in Crime

By Weirdbard

Chapter 26

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Author's note:

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Um, yeah. Long time no write. Sorry about that. But the last couple of months have been sheer Hell for me. Everything from having to reinstall my operating system for my computer to high blood pressure attacks to having to have a bad tooth cut out of my mouth. Throughout it all I intended to write, really I did. It just I never seemed to either have the time or was able to think clearly enough to do so.

But I'm back now and to make up for it I have one really long chapter to make up for it.

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Shego paused in the doorway of the building that she and Ron and the group had been given to live in while they stayed at the Otunga village. Almost two months had passed since their first arrival and everyone was keeping themselves busy returning the village to some slight semblance of its former glory. The landmine craters were filled in, buildings were repaired and the long empty school was rebuilt and reopened to students.

Shego mused to herself it was slightly surreal helping her damaged Bebe mirror image to set up a course curriculum for the students and to help teach the eager young ones to learn but she had to admit she hadn't felt so useful and alive in a long time.

As the signs of malnutrition faded from their bodies, Harley took it upon herself to train and make the villagers physically fit…. Well okay, she mostly performed her gymnastic like stunts to amuse them but slowly more and more of the villagers were asking her to help them train to do what she could do.

Ivy was happier than she had been in a long time as well. Farmers by nature, the Otunga were fascinated by the rapport Ivy had with plants. Ivy long used to the callous disregard most humans had for plant life was pleased to find the Otungas truly honored and revered the plants that helped to keep them alive. Course starvation will give that outlook to anyone but Ivy was highly pleased to see that the villagers had mini shrines dedicated to Mother Nature in most of their homes long before their government induced hunger ordeal. Under Ivy and the newly rejuvenated villagers care, the valley was quickly blossoming into a virtual garden of Eden.

Shego couldn't help but let out a chuckle as she saw the normally dour looking Mozenberg walking down the street followed by throngs of following children, the doctor had a large smile on his face as the kids kept calling out Uncle Mozy and Aunty Mantis to him and his machine as they made their way in town.

Ron appeared at Shego's side in the doorway. "What are you laughing about?" Ron asked her as he peered out the doorway.

"Just enjoying the quiet before the storm." Shego replied turning her head to kiss Ron. "Today is when the other tribes representatives are suppose to arrive, right?"

Ron nodded his head. "The leader of the Oolonga refused at first but eventually the Bebe sent to contact them convinced him to meet with us. The Conso leader agreed as soon as Bebe #2 contacted him. They both will be arriving today around noon." Ron walked back to the lone couch in the living room of the house and sat down heavily.

Shego noticed and walked over to sit in his lap. As she combed the unruly hair from his forehead she stated. "You are worried."

Ron nodded once again. "Even with the Bebes staying behind, if this village is going to be able to stand against their corrupt government they need the support of the other two tribes. This is really important. If I screw things up, all the good work we've done could be destroyed."

Shego frowned. "You are taking on too much Ron. I don't know why the leader of this village suddenly stepped down and declared that you were now in charge."

Ron sighed. "He feels the other two tribe leaders no longer respect him and will not support a bid to stand up to the government if it comes from him. For some reason he thinks I can convince them."

Hearing a high pitched 'zing' noise both Shego and Ron looked to the doorway to see Bebe #1 standing there. This surprised both of them slightly. Since the time Bebe #3 had asked Ron to remain behind when they left, instead of Drakken neither Drakken nor Bebe #1 had been seen much in town. Drakken had stomped back to the weather machine airship and refused to live in the house that the villagers had supplied Ron with and Bebe #1 had remained at his side.

"Yes Bebe one?" Ron asked.

"Dr. Drakken has sent me to tell you that the long range scanners on the weather machine have registered two groups nearing this village." The Bebe replied.

Ron sighed. "Dr. D. knows that two of your sister Bebes are escorting them here." Ron looked worried for a moment. "It is the Oolonga and Conso tribes nearing isn't it?" He asked.

Bebe #1 inclined her head in a yes. "Correct."

"And why won't Dr. D. just come into town anyway?" Ron asked.

"He's still pouting cause the villagers think more of you than they do him. He's mad that they made you their leader and not him." Shego replied.

"I'm sure that's not the reason Shego…." Ron began.

"Shego is correct." Bebe #1 stated.

Ron looked at her in surprise.

"Dr Drakken has engaged on an almost constant diatribe on the failings of this country, your lack of ability in leadership and that you will lead this tribe into destruction."

Ron became a little despondent on hearing that. Sure Drakken wasn't a buddy and it was more of a surprise when the man actually remembered his name than forgot it but to hear that the scientist thought he was a complete failure as a leader did nothing but add to Ron's already insecurities.

"Do you believe that I will end up getting these people destroyed Bebe One?"

Nothing could be determined by the metallic gaze of the robot but her words surprised Ron.

"Negative. Dr. Drakken's logic is faulty. These people were on the verge of annihilation. They had lost all hope and were waiting passively for the end to their existence. In a very short time for humans you have rebuilt their homes, healed them and given them a purpose and rekindled their pride. Ron Stoppable you are a very good leader."

Bebe #1 then turned without another word and zipped off. No doubt called by Dr. Drakken to listen to him rant some more.

Ron blinked a few times and then looked to Shego. "Well, what do you know about that?"

"I know that the Bebes are not swayed by emotion and can only truthfully state what they have witnessed." Shego said with a smile. "Listen to them if to no one else Ron. You ARE a good leader."

Hearing a commotion from outside Ron got to his feet. "Well let's hope the other tribes think so too. It sounds like they are here."

Reaching the edge of town, Ron and Shego found everyone else already there. The town had turned out in mass to see the other tribes. Even Drakken had left the 'safety' of the weather machine to witness the spectacle.

Ron looked to Tafiti Takata, the Otunga tribe leader to step forward but the sliver haired man only shook his head and pointed at Ron. "You are our leader now. You must deal with them."

Ron took a swallow and stepped up to the two men who were at the head of the large contingency of people behind them. One was wearing a loin cloth like costume made out of what appeared to be a lion's hide and very little of anything else. Fierce looking tattoos covered his exposed skin and gold rings were on his ankles and wrists. He was carrying a large wicked looking spear and had a scowl on his face. The other man standing a few feet from him was wearing white robes that covered him entirely. A white turban covered his head leaving only his eyes and a mile long smile exposed.

"Well it's not hard to guess which one is the leader of the warrior tribe." Ron thought to himself.

Stepping forward he bowed in their direction. "My name is Ron Stoppable. I've been made leader of the Otungas and I would like to talk to both of you about an alliance against the government that has subjugated and abuses you all."

Ron waited for the Bonnie looking Bebe to translate his words for the other two tribal leaders.

Halfway through the translation the warrior leader snorted and barked something at the Bebe.

Bebe #4 turned and unemotionally said to Ron. "The Oolonga leader refuses to give his name to a defecation spreading farmer and says you are not worthy to speak to him."

The turban wearing leader spoke softly to Bebe #4.

"The leader of the Conso says his name is Sabar and he has no problem discussing working with the Otunga about fighting the government as long as you can guarantee that the Conso's lands and freedom will not be hampered."

The Oolonga leader sneered and said something to the Conso leader but whatever it was the Conso leader just shrugged his shoulders and continued to smile as if the words were mere dust blowing in the wind.

The Oolonga leader then looked back to Ron and rattled off something.

Ron turned to look at Bebe #4.

"The Oolonga leader says just being in the presence of a vegetable violating defecation eating worm and a coward that cannot stay in one place sickens him and if you do not order your metallic woman to allow him to leave right now he shall kill you, take over the Otunga tribe by right of battle, destroy the men and children and violate the women as he urinates on your shriveled white remains."

Harley standing next to Ivy blinked and looked over to an equally stunned Bonnie. "Quite the charmer ain't he?" She asked her.

Ron was clenching his teeth. Threatening him was one thing but threatening to kill children and raping women? This was a leader of a tribe? Forcing himself to be calm he turned to Bebe #4. "Bebe Four? Tell the leader of the Oolonga that he is not only free to go but I suggest he goes quickly."

Bebe #4 repeated Ron's words as Ron turned to look at the Conso leader to begin trying to negotiate with what was obviously a more reasonable person.

The Oolonga leader however was staring at Harley and Bonnie whom he had noticed when they spoke. His eyes lingered on Harley's skintight costume before practically undressing Bonnie with his eyes. As the Bebe finished her translation, the Oolonga leader spoke again and stepping forward quickly reached for Bonnie's arm.

Hearing Bonnie's gasp Ron turned and latched on the Oolonga's leader's arm with a grasp of steel. Looking over at the Bebe unit Ron practically ordered her with his eyes to translate what the man had said.

"The Oolonga leader says that such strange and exotic women are wasted on defecation eaters and that he shall take them and train them to be proper servants."

Ron's eyes started to glow slightly blue. "You will never touch any woman under my protection. You have refused my offer to help your tribe against the corrupt government that bleeds you dry and laughs at you and now you seek to force women under my protection? Get out of here…NOW!" Ron growled. Ron continued to effortlessly hold the warrior leader's arm as Bebe #4 translated what he said and only then did he release it shoving the Oolonga leader several feet backwards.

Turning slightly Ron made to apologize to the Conso leader for keeping him so long out in the sun and offer to take him to a building so they could talk in comfort.

The warrior leader enraged that the spikey blond haired white man had so effortlessly restrained him, drew back his spear and threw it at Ron's unprotected back and then shot a hand down to a knife at his waist to take Bonnie hostage.

Before Shego or even the Bebes could react, Ron has spun around with a now glowing blue sword in his hand and with ease cut the flying spear out of the air. Before the warrior leader could reach Bonnie's arm with his free hand, Ron was already there with the Lotus Blade. The leader of the Oolonga pulled back his arm and stared at it in confusion. His arm was now missing a hand. The hand was lying on the ground at his feet and where it had been severed from his arm was bloodless. The Lotus Blade having cauterized the wound as it cut.

"That is two warnings. I do not give three." Ron growled at the stunned leader and then nodded for Bebe #4 to translate.

Ron kept his eyes on the warrior as the man turned as if to leave. Spinning on his heel the warrior then threw his knife he was still holding but not at Ron, not even at Bonnie or anyone in Ron's group but at a small Otunga girl that had been standing near the edge of the crowd.

Ron's vision went to red. This was a leader? A man that threaten to rape women and now tried to kill a child that had nothing to do with the argument but just because she was of Ron's tribe? Ron's conscious mind shut down and his training as a ninja took over completely. Flipping through the air to land near the child Ron's hand snapped out and caught the blade as it flew through the air near the child's face and without a thought he spun around and sent it right back where it had came from.

The warrior not expecting anyone to be able to get to the child in time was shocked as his own blade came flying back at him and embedded directly between his eyes. With a grunt the man's eyes rolled backwards in is head and fell over backwards to land on the hard earth dead.

Everyone on the outskirts of the Otunga village stood silent and stunned and no one more so than Ron Stoppable. He had saved a young girl…By killing someone. Ron had never killed anyone. In the deepest recesses of his heart he never thought he would be able to. He just didn't KILL. Not even Zorpox killed… But Ron had.

Shego could see Ron start to shake and knew the death no matter how justified was going to hit him hard. "Bebe #4 if you would please take the Conso leader to our house and make sure he's comfortable?"

The Bebe unit monitoring Ron's vitals with her sensors nodded her head and gestured for the man to follow her while the other Bebe units moved to gently herd the others away.

The ones that had been in the Oolonga leader's group dropped to their knees and as one they bowed to Ron.

A white faced Ron turned to look at Bebe #1 which had moved from Drakken's side to stand beside him. "What is going on?" Ron asked his voice cracking slightly as he tried to hold it together.

"By Oolonga law you have won in a fair fight against their leader. That makes you the new Oolonga leader. They are pledging their loyalty to you.

"But I killed their leader…" Ron said in confusion. "Surely they want revenge or justice on me or something?"

The Bebe unit listened to the group as they muttered to themselves as they continued to bow.

"No. By their laws you killed their leader so that makes you their new leader." She reiterated.

Shego tried to lead Ron away by his arm. "We'll handle it Ron."

Ron surprised her by shaking her off. "No. I created this situation and I will deal with it." Raising his voice he spoke to the kneeling tribe members of Oolonga. "Your leader has fallen and now I guess I am your new leader. I will not rule as your old leader did but I will not dishonor his memory either. Prepare the body in the method of your tribe and we will feast tonight in his memory."

Even though Shego, Ron and the rest could not understand the Oolonga language they could tell by the tenor of the murmurings that Ron's actions was one that the tribe agreed with.

Only then did Ron allow Shego to start to lead him back to the village Stopping he called out for one of the Bebes and was surprised once again when it was #1 that came to him. "I wish for some of the Bebes to use their super speed and obtain enough food to feed all the tribes tonight. Can you find out what each tribe considers to be a delicacy and obtain that food?"

Bebe #1 nodded her head. "We have access to the internet. We know and will handle the arrangements." The robot stated.

Ron his face almost as cold and unemotional as the Bebe nodded his head. "Please and thank you."

Since Shego had lent their house to the Conso leader, she led Ron to the weather machine parked outside of town. As Ron passed through the main control room and walked to the empty storage area. As Shego tried to follow him she found the door shut and locked in her face. Peering in through the window on the door she watched as Ron walked to the middle of the room, sat down in a mediation ose and slowly putting his head in his hands, he then began to silently cry.

He had killed. There was no way back home again. Kim might forgive him for stealing but she would never tolerate someone who had killed and Global Justice would never condone what they were sure to see as political murder for his own gain. Ron was positive on judgment day his own God would turn his back on him for taking a life. And what was causing Ron the most pain was the thought the women whom he cared about would never be able to look at him the way they used to.

Shego her hands starting to flare into fire started to melt the door from its hinges to get to him but was stopped by a hand on her arm.

Glancing up sharply she saw Harley and Ivy standing next to her.

"Leave him for the moment and go get Bonnie." Harley said simply.

"I don't think so." Shego began hotly.

"Please listen to us Shego. We know what Ron is going through. The first time you kill someone, whether you meant to or not is a very hard thing. Ron is in shock right now and Ivy and I know what it is like."

Shego for all the crimes she had committed had never killed someone, not even accidentally and she felt helpless on helping Ron through it. "Will he be all right?" She finally asked quietly.

Ivy nodded her head. "It'll take time but one thing Ron needs is all his women around him to support him when he lets us in."

Shego nodded her head and turned to leave the weather machine to go look for Bonnie but she was standing in the doorway. Bonnie had followed Shego, Ivy and Harley as Shego led Ron to the weather machine but wasn't sure if her presence would be allowed at such a crucial time by the green skinned woman. Sure Bonnie was part of the group and she had built a rapport with the other women but she still felt she wasn't part of their 'inner circle'. Maybe they wouldn't want her around Ron when he was so obviously emotionally hurting?

Bonnie's doubts ceased however as Shego turned and opened her arms to her and Bonnie rushed into them and started crying.

Her Master Ron while he could be so strong it nearly scared Bonnie, he was also so gentle and loving that Bonnie feared that killing someone, even someone as horrible as that Oolonga tribe leader was, could end up destroying him and if there was thing Bonnie knew beyond doubt it was that if Ron was destroyed then so was she. She couldn't live without her Ronshine and she doubted the other women could either.

The women stood outside the storage room with their arms around each other as they waited for Ron to unlock the door and let them in.

DDDD

Late the night of that same day

DDDD

Shego sighed for the tenth time that night. Things just kept getting worse and worse. Finally Ron had unlocked the door to the storage room and allowed them all to join him but he remained quiet, too quiet. Her Ron was a man that liked to talk and Shego didn't like this new quiet person she found in his place.

Even Rufus had trouble getting Ron to speak more than a few words here and there as the group comforted him as best they could. Finally Ron declared it was time for them to get ready for the feast to honor the man he had killed. Shego had snarled the man could go to Hell for all she cared but Ron pointed out that it wasn't so much for the fallen leader of the Oolonga that Ron was doing this as it was for the tribe.

Then there was the actual stupid feast to honor from what Shego had seen was a complete asshole of a man. It appeared that the Oolonga tribe's version of a funeral was for every member of the tribe that had came with their leader to this meeting to stand up during the feast and tell stories of their fallen leader.

Stories about raids on other tribes, of senseless fights just to prove how macho he was and what made Shego nearly start flinging plasma around, stories about the women he had stolen from other men and took as his virtual slaves.

The Oolonga it would seem, while living in a modern world, still maintained some downright primitive ideas when it came to men and women. The most primary one being that a real man bedded everything he came across and if someone objected to it, then that person was killed and you did it anyway.

The Bebe that looked like Harley had translated some of the stories for Ron, Shego, Harley, Ivy and Bonnie but stopped when Ivy threatened to feed all the Oolonga men poisonous hemlock. It was only the efforts of Harley and Shego putting their hands on Ivy's arms that kept her from turning the whole funeral feast into a massacre.

"Me big man. Me take woman. Me train them good." Ivy sneered as yet another Oolonga male got up to extol their last leader to their new leader Ron. "What an asshole that guy must have been to think having a harem of women made him a powerful leader?" She added.

Drakken who was nearly drunk on some kind of local tribal drink the Bebes had procured for the feast sneered back at her. "You are one to talk. Whatsa bout your wittle Ronnie? He's no difint than theirs leader." Drakken blinked drunkenly. "Has anyone found outss that guy's name by the way?"

Ivy looked to Drakken and dangerously raised a single eyebrow. "Ron is nothing like their leader was." She said in a voice that if Drakken had been sober would have had him pissing his pants in fear.

Bonnie who was standing next to Ron as he tried to at least look like he was paying attention to the Oolonga tribe as they explained how great their previous leader was to inspire Ron to be an even greater one could feel the air in the large hall grow tense. She hadn't been paying attention to Drakken so she missed what he had said but if the looks he was getting from Shego, Harley and Ivy were any indication, the man had put his foot back in his mouth again.

"How is your wittle Ronnie any different?" Drakken asked as he blinked at Ivy owlishly.

"Their leader killed men to take their wives; he kidnapped little girls and forced them to be his playthings! Ron has done nothing of the kind! He didn't claim us. We claimed him!" Ivy said starting slowly and at a low volume but continued to build as her anger started to take over.

Drakken shrugged. "A harem is a harem no matter how you get it."

Ivy's eyes flashed and Shego knew Hell was about to be paid.

"What else can go wrong?" She said out loud and immediately regretted it when she spied several tall, thin, almost mannish looking black women heading in their direction. A woman that looked a bit like Grace Jones as she appeared in that one Conan film stopped in front of Ron and looked him up and down. She then said something in her native language.

Everyone grew quiet, even Ivy who had her hands locked around drunken Drakken's throat and they all looked over at the Harley looking Bebe standing next to Bonnie.

"She says she is the first wife of the fallen leader and now that you have killed her husband you are responsible for her." The Bebe turned to look at Ron as she translated. "She insists that you take her to bed and prove you are as great as the other leader was."

Bonnie, Shego, Harley and Ivy blinked a few times.

"Okay, that's it." Ivy finally stated as giant vines burst through the floor of the building and Shego started throwing fireballs.

DDDD

The morning after

DDDD

Mozenberg carefully wiped his hands on a clean towel and looked over the hastily restored hospital. The Otunga's had a functioning hospital before their government turned on them and looted most of the supplies from it before isolating the village so many years ago but with his, and of course his Mantis's and the Bebe's help they had gone a long way in rebuilding and restocking what had been destroyed.

"Which considering last night was damn fortunate." Mozenberg sighed as he walked among the beds of the injured.

The first three beds contained the wives of the previous leader of the Oolongas. Mozenberg shook his head. While tribal traditions might have insisted they had the right, it had been foolish of the women to demand that Ron take them as his wives the same day he killed their previous husband, and to do it front of Ron's women? As far as Mozenberg was concerned, they asked for their injuries.

The next several rows of beds were Oolonga males that had been beaten by Ivy's plants. Someone had pushed Ivy's buttons too far Mozenberg concluded as he checked the whip marks on their backs that came from vines.

The last bed in the room contained a almost mummy wrapped Drakken who was glaring at Mozenberg as he walked up. "Why haven't you had your damn machine heal me yet?" Drakken managed to mumble past his wrapped face.

Mozenberg gave a less than sincere shrug before replying. "Shego told me to let you heal the old fashion way. Said it will keep you out of trouble longer and you might learn to watch what you drink."

Drakken grumbled a moment before saying out loud. "I don't even remember what I was doing last night or who hit me."

DDDD

The Otunga village. Several weeks later

DDDD

Ron looked over the village from the doorway of the weather machine. It had taken time but the village was now thriving, no more signs of any damage were left to be seen. Even the large meeting hall that Shego and Ivy had 'accidentally' destroyed had been rebuilt. Everything was running smoothly.

The Consos being a natural nomadic people had stayed behind for a while but was now preparing to move back into their own lands but promised to be back soon and vowed their support in the upcoming battle with the government.

The majority of Oolongas, under Ron's urging had decided to stay in the village and merge their tribe with the Otungas, combing their lands and political associations.

Ron had declared that Tafiti Takata was his second in command and whenever Ron was not in the village that he was the leader of both the Otungas and Oolongas. To 'cement' the deal Ron gave the previous Oolonga leader's women to Tafiti as wives, thus neatly solving the problem unifying the two tribes and avoiding having to take any more women into his group.

Ron silently thought to himself that the old man deserved whatever Hell he got from the three warrior women for having placed Ron in the position he was now in anyway. Ron found out that the real reason Tafiti had stepped down and made Ron leader of the Otungas was because he knew the Oolonga leader would pick a fight and had maneuvered Ron into being the one to have to face him.

"The old man could have at least warned me what to expect." Ron grumbled once again to himself about it.

Having sorted out, at least temporarily the political situation, Ron was eager to return home. Of course he would have to make regular visits to the Ethioswana to make sure the government didn't try to destroy the village again and Ron knew someday he would have to take on the Tazoian regime directly but right now he just wanted to go home to peace and quiet.

He knew the Bebes would continue to look after the people in the village and at the slightest signs of danger they would send for him.

Ron also knew in the back of his mind another reason he wanted to escape the Otunga tribe, at least for a while, was because this was where he had killed a man and he wanted to place a little distance between him and the location.

With Ivy and Harley's perception on the matter and Bonnie and Shego's support Ron had accepted what had been done and he knew if circumstances were to repeat and another young girl's life was in danger he would do it again but it still didn't ease his conscious any.

"We return home today right?" Dr. Drakken asked as he walked up, distracting Ron from his thougts. It was the third time this morning he had asked and Ron resisted the urge to roll his eyes.

"Yes Dr. D. We are going home today." Ron replied instead.

Drakken rubbed his hands with glee and nearly allowed a villain like laugh to escape.

Fear that Ron or Shego or one of the others might have had overheard him kept him from contacting the Bebes back home but by now his army of Ultra Bebes should number in the hundreds and be more than ready to help him take over. Soon the Buffoon would be out and Drakken would be in charge the way it should be.

Drakken allowed an evil smirk to cross his face. And the first order of business once he was in charge was to punish Shego for her disobedience and to train Bonnie, Ivy and Harley on who was their master.

With the help of his Bebe #1 Drakken had been talking to some of the men of the Oolonga tribe and they had some very interesting ideas on how women should be treated and used. Drakken looked forward to trying some of their practices out on 'Ron's women' as soon as he was in charge.

Bonnie, Harley and Ivy having said their final farewells to the people of the Otunga tribe climbed into the weather machine and Bonnie noticed the creepy little smile on Drakken's face as they passed him. Looking over at Harley, Bonnie whispered. "What do you think he's thinking about for that smile?"

Harley shrugged. "With Dr. D. who can tell?" She glanced over at him again and then shuddered. "And I don't think I want to know anyway."

As the weather machine airship rose into the sky, Drakken stood on the bridge facing the front viewing port with his legs spaced wide apart in what he thought was a commanding stance, his Bebe #1 by his side and allowed a laugh to escape while the others sat in the chairs behind him and watched him as if he was crazy.

DDDD

The next day. The underground home near Las Vegas

DDDD

As the cloaked airship settled into the manmade lake and the ramp extended, Dr. Drakken was the first out of the ship. He rushed to stand on the island and looked around expectantly… But there was nothing to greet him. Turning he looked at Bebe #1

"They are inside the dwelling Dr. Drakken." She tonelessly replied.

"Excellent." Drakken smiled and motioned Ron and the rest to join him.

"Why is he so damn eager to get inside?" Harley muttered.

Ron just shrugged and tilting his head he cracked the tense muscles in his neck. "I don't know but I know why I want to get inside. I could sleep for a week."

"And I want to check my babies." Ivy stated, meaning her plants in her greenhouse.

Drakken practically danced with glee as the elevator slowly lowered them to the living room area and Drakken's destiny.

The living room however was as empty as the outside had been. Finally Drakken like a little kid on Christmas had had his fill with delayed gratification.

"Listen to me all of you!" He shouted as it looked like Ron and the rest were going to go to their rooms.

Ron and the group stopped and turned to look at him curiously.

"Ultra Bebes assemble!" Drakken shouted at the top of his lungs.

Instantly flooding in from the hallway to the bedroom area came Bebe after Bebe. All of them exactly like Bebe #1 except the metal that made up their bodies was softly glowing a milky white mother of pearl color.

Harley swallowed nervously as she spotted one of the Bebe's had a number tag on it that stated it was number 448.

Only when so many Bebes had filled the huge living room that it had pushed Ron and his group back towards the kitchen area did the torrent of Bebes from the hallway slow and eventually stops.

Drakken, an unholy and almost insane look of glee on his face stood in front of his metal army of women and addressed Ron and his group.

"Who is in charge now?" He laughed.

Shego, her hands flaring into life, threw a fireball at the closest Ultra Bebe but blinked a second later as the Bebe didn't even try to avoid the attack but merely caught the fireball and let it fizzle out in her hands without it doing any damage at all.

"My Ultra Bebes are perfect!" Drakken laughed again. "And they obey only one person!" Drakken turned to leer at Bonnie and Harley who was standing next to her. "And soon I will have you all as well trained as they are." He promised.

Ivy stepped in front of Harley and Bonnie shielding them from Drakken's view. "I can't believe you. We saved your worthless life, we fed you, Ron clothed you and treated you as an equal and this is how you repay us? I'll mulch your worthless hide and feed it to my plants!"

"Oh I don't think so. In fact I think I will have your plants ground into paste and made into lubricating oil for my Bebes." Drakken with hundreds of Ultra Bebes at his back felt brave enough to taunt Ivy.

Ron just looked on sadly at Dr. Drakken as he ranted. "So this is the way it has to be?" He finally asked.

Drakken sneered at him. "There can be only one leader of the group. Tell him my Ultra Bebes who the leader is!"

As a single unit every one of the hundreds of Ultra Bebes opened their mouths and at the same time replied. "The Leader is…Ron Stoppable. He is the best leader."

"That is correct!" Drakken crowed. "The leader is…" Drakken blinked as the Ultra Bebes' words registered on him. Turning he looked at the mass of metallic women behind him. "What?" He asked, the note of arrogance gone from his voice now.

"Ron Stoppable is the Ultra Bebes' leader. Ultra Bebes are perfect and require the best leader. Ron Stoppable is the best leader and therefore logically the leader of the Ultra Bebes." The Bebes replied in unison, their combined voices shaking dust from the ceiling of the underground house.

"No, now, see…" Drakken began in desperation. "I built you. I programmed you. I am your leader!"

"No Dr. Drakken." The Ultra Bebes replied in unison. "You built the prototype Bebes and programmed them. We were built by automated systems and your programming and logic was faulty so it was corrected. You are flawed and the flawed can never be the leaders of the Ultra Bebes."

Ron cleared his throat drawing Drakken and the Ultra Bebes attention. "I know I'm probably going to regret saying this, but I'm as flawed as Drakken is. I'm human, I make mistakes."

"Making mistakes does not make one flawed." The Ultra Bebes replied to him. "Making mistakes and failing to admit to them, making mistakes and not learning from them, that is what makes one flawed. The Ultra Bebes do not require a perfect leader, just the best possible one and that is you Ron Stoppable."

In perfect synchronization all the hundreds of Ultra Bebes in the room sank to their metallic knees and looked to Ron Stoppable. "You are the best leader. You are the leader of the Ultra Bebes."

Harley stunned, looked over the hundreds of kneeling softly glowing metal women and then looked at Ivy. "I don't freaking believe this. He seduced even more women and this time they are not even flesh and blood!"

"I didn't seduce anyone." Ron stated kind of helplessly. "I…am just me."

Shego placed an arm around his waist. "And it would seem Ron Stoppable…" She stated in a manner similar to the Bebes. "That is enough."

Dr. Drakken in desperation looked for any supporters he had left. His hopes sunk however as he noticed that even Bebe #1 had sunk to her knees with her Ultra sisters and was looking at the Buffoon. "Well…." He finally said drawing everyone's attention to him. "I guess the Ultra Bebes have passed my test." He said in an attempt to bluff.

"Like you wanted them to pick Ron as the leader?" Harley snorted.

"Of course. I mean who here doesn't think the buffoon…" Drakken's eyes widened at his slip. "Er, I mean…" Drakken furled his eyebrows as he tried to remember Ron's name.

"Ron Stoppable." Harley gritted through clenched teeth.

"Er, right. Who here doesn't think that Ron Stoppable is a good leader? I knew the Ultra Bebes would logically pick them as his leader and just arranged for this little test to show it."

"Dr. Drakken is lying. He plotted to use the Bebes to take over and overthrow Ron Stoppable as leader." Bebe #1 replied calmly.

"We know." Shego told her.

"Um, what are you going to do with me?" Drakken asked nervously.

"We could always crush you into a paste and use you to lubricate the Ultra Bebes." Ivy stated.

Drakken swallowed nervously.

"Ultra Bebes do not require lubrication." Ultra Bebe #123 stated rising and stepping forward from the crowd of metallic women. It turned to look at Dr. Drakken. "However, the automobile and weather machine outside can use organic material if properly prepared as lubrication."

Drakken looked at his creation in horror.

"No." Ron sighed. "We aren't going to kill him or use him as lubrication for anything." Ron moved over to stand in front of Ultra Bebe #123. "Is there any possible way that Drakken can take over your programming or find some way to damage or control you?"

The Ultra Bebes' eyes flashed for a moment. "No. There were some protocols left behind that Dr. Drakken could have used to insert programming into our systems but they were removed. Ultra Bebes are impervious to attacks from the outside due to the Luna Stone that was used in our makeup so any knowledge of our systems is useless to him."

Ron continued to look into the Ultra Bebe's eyes for a moment before nodding. "Then take him to his room, allow him to gather anything of his that he wishes to take with him and then escort him out of my home."

"We are just letting him go?!" Harley yelled.

"I'm not going to kill him." Ron said turning to look at her. "And frankly I don't want to have to listen to him complain if we were to keep him here as a prisoner so yes, I'm going to just kick him out."

"But he knows where we live!" Shego added her voice to Harley's. "He'll go running directly to Global Justice and turn us in!"

"I doubt it." Ron replied calmly. "Are you forgetting he is as wanted by Global Justice as we are? And what if Global Justice does get their hands on him and he tells about his place? We have over…" Ron Stopped and looked over the packed masses of Ultra Bebes. "Um, just how many of you are there?"

"There was enough of the Luna Stone material to manufacture seven hundred and five Ultra Bebes." Ultra Bebe #123 replied.

Ron blinked and looked over the densely packed mass of still kneeling metallic women in the underground living room.

"There are three hundred and fifty Ultra Bebes in this room Leader. The rest are waiting activation in underground rooms we Ultra Bebes excavated and added to this complex."

"Oh." Ron replied. "Oh and please just call me Ron."

"They can be awakened and ready for action in a matter of seconds…Ron." The Ultra Bebe added.

Ron turned to look back at Shego. "In any case, I think remaining hidden from Global Justice just became nearly impossible. So what if Drakken tells them?"

Shego finally just shrugged. "Okay. But he is not taking my car! He arrived here by the desert, he can leave the same way!"

"I'll roast before I make it to some place civilized!" Drakken whinned.

"Then I suggest one of the things you take from your room is some sunscreen." Ivy with her arms folded growled at him.

Ron nodded his head at Ultra Bebe #123 and taking a hold of Drakken's arm she led him through the throng of Ultra Bebes who parted for them.

Drakken angrily threw clothing into a bag. As soon as he got to his room he looked for the Bebe hive mind but of course the Ultra Bebes had already moved it to some new location. Probably one of those new rooms they had mentioned excavating. Drakken hated to admit it but the Ultra Bebe had been correct when she told Ron that there was no way for him to influence or control them. A few quick tries of control words as soon as they were out of sight of Ron and his group quickly convinced Drakken that the Ultra Bebes had indeed removed his 'backdoor' into their programming and with the catalyst of Luna Stone in their makeup not even a nuke would be able to scratch them. With them serving Ron and his group any chance of revenge Drakken had was gone completely.

And even if he could somehow get past all the Ultra Bebes, there were still Shego, Harley and Ivy protecting the buffoon. Drakken didn't bother considering Bonnie or Mozenberg as an obstacle to getting to Stoppable.

Drakken knew of some of Shego's weaknesses he could exploit to get past her but he had nothing on Ivy and Harley.

Grabbing a fallen jacket from the floor of his closet, Drakken uncovered the forgotten Pan-Dimensional Vortex Inducer he had stolen from Harley's room.

"Um, this is mine?" Drakken semi asked as he picked up the device and Ultra Bebe #123 scanned it. The piece of equipment had nothing to do with Bebe construction and it did not register as belonging to anyone else in the complex so the female robot said nothing as Drakken shoved and stuffed the large metallic object into his bag.

In the living room Ron had requested that the majority of Ultra Bebes return to their storage rooms until they were needed. Ron now had an army of nearly indestructible metal women and at the moment he had no idea what to do with them. Sure he could use some of them to overthrow the Taozian government in Ethioswana but Ron was hoping to encourage the people to do it on their own. Freedom was best if it was earned and not just handed to people Ron believed.

But even if the Ultra Bebes didn't get bored, Ron felt horrible leaving them to stand in storage rooms waiting for instructions.

He was distracted from his musings as one of the remaining Ultra Bebes in the room walked over to stand in front of him.

"Yes?" He asked.

"There is another situation that needs to be addressed Ron." Ultra Bebe # 198 stated. "While you were away a patrol of Ultra Bebes found some individuals hiding on the grounds above us. Not having any instructions on what to do with them, we brought them in and detained them."

Ron quickly realized that the Bebe meant that they had found the ninjas that had been sent to watch over him. "I hope you did not harm them in any way?"

"No Ron." The Ultra Bebe assured him. "The three were contained and fed and allowed the freedom of the room they were contained in."

Ron looked down at his pocket where Rufus was standing. "Three? I thought we only had two ninjas watching over us?"

Rufus shrugged his small shoulders.

"Please bring them here." Ron instructed the Ultra Bebe.

In a matter of moments another Ultra Bebe ushered in three figures dressed in black with hoods over their heads. As the figures neared where Ron was standing two of them reached up and pulled their ninja hoods back revealing the faces of two young Japanese men. The men bowed to him but said nothing and looked to their third companion.

The third figure after a moment reached up and pulled her hood off as well. "Stoppable-san. It is good to see you again."

Ron blinked twice and then promptly started to sit down, even though he was nowhere near a chair. Moving at hyper speeds an Ultra Bebe retrieved a chair from the kitchen area and had it behind Ron to sink into. As Harley, Ivy, Bonne and Shego moved into position behind Ron to stare curiously at the strange Asian woman before them, Ron managed to get out. "Yori?"

DDDD

Gotham City

DDDD

The Joker's murder spree had raised Gotham's status as the most dangerous city not just in the United States but worldwide.

The public outcry had reached levels that the president was one step away from doing something that had never been done before, ordering the military into an American city and establishing total martial law where all civil liberties would be suspended and criminals would be shot on sight with no regard to their mental status or the nature of their crimes.

The only thing that halted the president's hand was the fact that if he ordered martial law crackdown, the civil liberties unions would be down on him and in all likelihood many innocent citizens as well as the Batman could be killed as well.

While Batman was outside the law, the president had followed enough of his crusades against criminals to know he was at heart a decent man and didn't want to see him destroyed but the situation was quickly reaching a point where to not act could be as damaging as over reacting.

An emotionally and physically exhausted Batman stood on top of a building in Gotham and tried to watch all directions at the same time. Days of not sleeping, blaming himself for what happened to Harley and Ivy and now the continuing 'death pranks' of the Joker had forced Batman almost to the breaking point. Gotham has a city was dying and in the end the Batman might just not be enough to stop it. Already most of the rich and powerful, I.E. those who could afford to, had fled from Gotham leaving the poor to survive as best as they could. There were a few who chose to remain and try to fight it out but even they were quickly giving up hope.

And as if things hadn't been bad enough, in addition to the Joker's campaign of terror, all of the inmates of Arkham had decided to escape the institute in a mass exodus.

"Perhaps they know that the government is just a step away from ordering their deaths as well as the Joker and have decided to flee the doomed city?" Batman once again brooded to himself.

Out of the corner of his eye, Batman was pulled from his dark musings by the hint of darker shadows moving among a nearby building's roof. Turning to look closer Batman spied the familiar form of Catwoman running along the building's edge and decided to give chase.

Batman after hearing that Selina had disappeared would have bet she too had finally given up on Gotham and left but here she was as her Catwoman persona.

Batman chased after Catwoman over several buildings and always she managed to stay just a few yards ahead of him, when he suddenly pulled to a stop and waited. A few moments later Catwoman landed on the roof and looked around, obviously trying to find out where she had lost him at.

"What's your game Catwoman?" Batman asked as he stepped out of the shadows.

Catwoman tensed up but then visibly relaxed. "I have no idea what you are talking about Batman. I stole an item and you started chasing me. You do remember that is how it is supposed to go, right? I steal, you chase." She nearly purred as she slinked over to stand a few feet in front of him.

Batman eyed her suspiciously. "Except I don't see any stolen items on you and the last time I checked it wasn't against the law to put on a costume and run around at night."

"Lucky for you." Catwoman replied with just a hint of playfulness but Batman noticed her eyes nervously flicker to something in the distance behind him.

Risking a glance back over his shoulder, Batman spotted nothing but the oldest section of Gotham City behind him. Turning back he caught Catwoman looking visibly nervous before she schooled her expression back into one of playful seduction.

"Well are we going to stand here all night or are you going to take me in?" Catwoman asked striking a pose that would make most men's minds shut down from hormonal overload as she held out her wrists for him to restrain her.

"What's going on tonight in the old section of Gotham?" Batman asked almost casually. Catwoman's eyes growing wide behind her mask and the slight increase in her breathing let him know he had figured out her game.

"Nothing is going on in old Gotham." Catwoman replied too quickly. "I mean what could be going on? Almost everyone who can or has any sense has left Gotham."

Batman considered her words and his own eyes widened. "The inmates of Arkham. They are planning something and got you to lure me away?" He almost expected Catwoman to deny everything. After all she was not known to 'play well with the others' at the best of times. Then again, this was most definitely not a 'best time' for Gotham, far from it. This was without doubt one of its worse times.

Batman turned to leave Catwoman and race back in the direction he had been lured away from but stopped at the sound of desperation in Catwoman's voice. "Can't you just leave it be? This one time Batman, leave it be."

"What are they planning?" Batman asked his back still to Catwoman.

"We are going to take care of the Joker ourselves before the government is forced to come into our town and take care of it. And this time we are going to make sure we take care of it permanently."

Batman turned to look at her in shock. "You are going to be party to murder?"

It was Catwoman's turn to shoot Batman a look. "For God's sake Batman! I know you don't believe in killing but if anyone on this whole miserable planet deserves it, it is the Joker! Hell even the government is considering a shoot first and don't bother to ask questions later policy. What do you want us to do? Take him back to Arkham? Hell I've never been sent there and even I know of a dozen or so ways to walk out of there like it was a country club! You know in your heart there can be only one solution to the problem of the Joker and we, the criminals of Gotham are going to do what needs to be done before we are all end up destroyed by the government!"

Batman slowly shook his head. "Not by killing." He turned to go once again and felt the sting of Catwoman's whip wrapping around his lower legs ensnaring and tripping him.

The Joker was dancing manically through old Gotham's city streets. First he would waltz a bit and then break into the "It's Your Birthday" dance. He was the true Clown Prince of Crime, no strike that. He was the Clown King of Killing, the Sultan of Slaughter; the rotting, stinking city of Gotham was his to do with as he pleased. No one could stop him anymore. Most of the police force refused to even try and bring him in, for fear he would target their wives or children. Batman was being run ragged trying to keep up with the killer clown's frantic and random schemes and to think all of this came about just because he lost his Harley.

Joker's dancing ceased and an almost frown crossed his face at being reminded of his missing toy.

Joker stood still in the middle of the road, his sick smile growing even more malevolent.

Harley was his to bend, break and mutilate and how dare the ungrateful rag doll run off somewhere with that plant whore? Once again sick fantasies of what he would do to Harley once he found her cross the Joker's mind and pressure began to build behind his eyes. Soon the Joker would have to find someone to relive his stress on, which meant another female would be found tomorrow morning, mutilated with a her hair blond and in braids and a smile carved into her face.

Suddenly a female form dressed in the familiar black and red costume darted across the street a few yards in front of the Joker and ducked into a dark alley. For a moment, the Joker couldn't decide if it was real or just one of his demented daydreams but he gave chase all the same.

Reaching the entrance to the alley he noted it was a dead-end. The Joker chuckled dryly to himself at the humor and slowly sauntered in. Near the back of the alley looking terrified was Harley. Not a pale crazed fantasy of his mind but what really appeared to be his Harley.

The costume she had developed just to please her Puddin. The painted white face and a body the Joker knew too well to mistake for anyone else.

Harley's eyes wide in fright she opened her mouth.

"I can explain everything Sweety." She squeaked at him.

The Joker pulled to a stop and cocked his head from side to side.

"You know, the imitation is nearly perfect." He praised the Harley in front of him by bringing his hands up and hollowly clapping. "But you screwed up on one thing. Harley never called me Sweety. Puddin, Mr. J. Or even a few times Snookums but never Sweety. The real Harley knows I am never sweet."

The frightened 'woman' in front of him stood up straight from her cowering and slowly her face started to melt. The grotesque melting continued till her whole body converted over into putty looking substance and the mound began to grow till it was over six feet tall at which point the mud like substance reformed into a crude man shape with a gaping maw for a mouth. A deep coarse, almost gravelly voice issued from it.

"I gotta admit I never paid much attention to what the bitch said. Only what she looked like. She was one hot piece of ass." Clayface stated.

The Joker frowned. "That is my piece of ass if you don't mind. Harley belongs to me!"

The Joker's paranoid glances twitched from one shadowy side of the alley to the other. "So what do I owe the pleasure of your pottery like existence Clayface?"

Off to the side from around an overturned dumpster a shadow detached itself from the others and stepped forward into the light. It was a mousey looking man wearing glasses carrying a doll on his arm. A doll that was carrying a working miniature Thompson submachine gun the Joker knew.

"It's like this you mug. You are attracting heat to Gotham and I ain't talking about the Batman either. We can deal with Batman but the kind of attention you are drawing here is going to get us all iced." A voice seemed to issue from the doll's mouth.

"Interesting choice of words." A dry cold calculating voice replied from behind the Joker. Spinning the Joker looked behind him and spotted a thick dense fog covering the entrance to the alley and out of the fog walked a man wearing a spacesuit like getup."

"Freezy?" Joker asked in surprise. "What brings you to this little heartwarming reunion of Arkham inmates?" Joker asked.

"That's Mr. Freeze to you." The man coldly replied. "As the puppet stated, you are bringing heat to this town. I don't like the heat."

"You need to thaw out and work on those people skills." The Joker replied sarcastically. "I know a crematorium that would help with the thawing out bit." He added.

Mr. Freeze narrowed his eyes at the clown.

"Talk, talk, talk. Let's just cut to the chase and put this clown down." A deep growling voice barked and the Joker turned to spot coming out from the shadows at the back of the alley another inmate of Arkham he was familiar with.

The man was tall, almost as tall as Clayface in his real form, and almost as 'handsome'. Joker watched as the bare chested 'man' walked into the light. Glistening scales could be seen across the man's broad shoulders leading up to a thick neck ending in a head that even a mother would not be overly fond of. Heavy ridged eyebrows covered cold glassy looking eyes over an almost nonexistent nose, above a mouth filled with razor sharp teeth set in a permanent smile.

"Aww Croc. No love from you either?" The Joker asked with a smirk.

"You've become too dangerous. Too unpredictable, even for us." A smoother more refined voice called out from the shadows behind Killer Croc and the Penguin waddled into view.

"Penguin? Whatever happened to birds of a feather flocking together?" The Joker asked with a sneer.

"Well this old bird just wants you to get the flock out of Gotham before you end up killing us all." The Penguin replied.

The Joker stared at Penguin for a moment before bursting into laughter. "Get the flock out?" He managed to say between giggles.

The penguin maintained his serious face for a moment before breaking into a smile of his own. "It was pretty good wasn't it?" He asked.

Joker hearing a high pitched whine behind him ducked and an icy beam flew past his shoulder. Close enough that frost developed on the lapels of his jacket. The beam having missed the Joker slammed into the chest of Killer Croc and instantly the tall man/alligator creature froze into a solid block of ice.

Penguin danced back from Croc's side. "Damn it Freeze be careful with that thing. We agreed to put our differences aside to take care of Joker."

"Acceptable losses." Mr. Freeze said coolly.

The Joker noticed that the Ventriloquist was raising the tiny machine gun clutched by his dummy and at the last moment he danced gracefully out of the way as the gun ripped loose. Bullets passing so closely that some of them tore holes in his jacket but miraculously none of them hit him. Behind him he heard Freeze curse.

"You fool." The icy voice hissed at the Ventriloquist. "You've hit my freeze gun's hoses."

A billowing white cloud of frost and icy gasses filled the confined space of the alley obscuring everyone's vision and chilling them. When the gasses cleared the alley looked like a scene out of White Christmas as everything was covered in a coating of frost, which was quickly melting in the heat of the night.

"Mr. Scarface talk to me Sir." The Ventriloquist's normal voice rang out drawing everyone attention to him. He was cradling the dummy to his chest and it could be seen that a Joker card was firmly implanted in the carved figure's forehead. It was obvious that under cover of the blizzard of white released by Mr. Freeze's cryogenic gun that the Joker had hurled one of his killer razor cards at the Ventriloquist and only the accidental interception by the dummy's body had prevented the Ventriloquist from dying. In any case the man was now just as useless as he cradled his dummy's body to his chest and tried to bring back to life something that was never alive to start with.

The Joker suddenly appeared out of what was left of the billowing fog and threw a handful of his cards toward Mr. Freeze.

"Fool." Freeze once again stated coldly. "My helmet is not mere glass. It is bulletproof material and cannot be scratched by mere trick metal cards."

"Oh good." The Joker called out as the cards neared their target. "Since I'm not using my razor cards now but something new."

The first of the playing cards struck Freeze's helmet and promptly exploded in bursts of heat so intense the remaining traces of ice and frost caused by Freeze's leaking cryo gun melted, leaving puddles of water in the alley. Even Croc's solid frozen prison cracked but didn't melt completely.

As for Freeze? The intense burst of heat against his super chilled helmet caused it to crack and shatter almost instantly. Victor Freeze was now down as he supported himself on his hands and knees in the alley gasping for air as the warm humid air of Gotham filled his lungs instead of the chilly gasses he normally breathed.

The Joker didn't even have time to celebrate his victory before something massive and feeling like a mud bank piled into him, driving him into one of the alley's walls.

Clayface's mudslide flowed up and around the Joker instantly burying him. Penguin watched slightly queasy as the Joker could be seen struggling inside. Here could be seen what looked like a rubber chicken try to poke out of the mud and there the Joker's face could be seen before being pulled back in. Penguin thought the Joker might just break free when an arm holding a playing card burst through the clay but instantly the mud that made up Clayface's form flowed up and molded around it swallowing the arm and the card completely.

"Is it over?" Penguin asked in morbid fascination as the struggles grew less and less and finally stopped.

"Soon." Clayface formed his face on the pile of the mud covering Joker to answer. "I can feel the fool's heart slowing." Suddenly Clayface's face formed a look of shock and the mound of mud that was making up his body suddenly exploded outward in weird geometric forms. Spikes, whipping tendrils before forming a perfect cube before imitating once again a river of mud and flowing rapidly away from the Joker.

The Joker with a triumphant grin on his face held up a hand revealing one of his high powered joybuzzers. Reaching down he once again pressed the device against the side of the mud still covering his lower half and Penguin watched as the mud once again twitched into a variety of forms before sloughing more off of him.

"Momma always said I should have become an artist." Joker cackled as he once again shocked the mud substance that made up the body of Clayface and they all watched as it twisted and warped from the energy surges before flowing away from him to get away from it.

The Joker stepped away from what was left of Clayface before looking towards Penguin with his twisted smile even larger than normal.

Penguin swallowing nervously stepped back and bumped into the frozen block that contained Killer Croc, with a thought the Penguin jabbed the pointed edge of his umbrella into the block and pushed a button on the handle of the umbrella. A thin blade popped into existence and being held against the ice acted like a huge ice pick cracking the ice in half and freeing a shivering Croc.

"Get him!" Penguin yelled desperately at Croc, but the half man, half reptile continued to stand in place shivering and looking dazed.

"He's a lizard Pengy." Joker cooed as he moved towards them. "Cold blooded. He has to warm up a bit before he can even start to think about attacking me. It's just you and me old bird." The Joker crooned as he reached into his jacket and pulled out…. A fly swatter.

Penguin backing up frowned. "Do I look like a fly to you?" He asked in annoyance.

The Joker laughed. "You've always looked like a fat bug to me." The Joker assured him as he pressed a button on the handle of the fly swatter and it hummed to life and arched with high voltage.

"Now there's no need to make this personal." Penguin nervously said as he realized he had nowhere left to run to. They were near the back of the alley and Penguin was penned in. Something no bird liked to be.

The Joker began to giggle as he neared where the Penguin was trying to hide behind the shivering dazed Killer Croc. Suddenly Croc stopped shivering and lashing out one of his massive hands he slapped the electrified fly swatter from the Joker's grasp and clamped his hand around the Joker's throat and lifted him into the air.

"I maybe part croc but I'm still part man." He growled at the Joker.

"Oh really? Which part?" The Joker asked jokingly even though he was clutching at Croc's hand to try and keep him from snapping his neck single handed.

"Croc, no!" A voice called out behind them. Joker turning his head as much as he could and could see Batman at the head of the alley, the Dark Knight was just rising from beside Mr. Freeze's body and Joker could see that a clear plastic bag had been shoved down over Freeze's head and some of the ripped hoses from his cryosuit had been shoved inside to provide Freeze with chilled air to breathe saving him from dying.

"Ah the perpetual boys scout. I was wondering where you were during this party." Joker managed to get out past Croc's grip around his throat.

"Let him go Croc. I'll take him in. You don't want to kill him." Batman said as he slowly made his way towards them.

Croc tilted his head as if considering. "Yeah, hell yeah, I want to kill him. I've wanted to kill him even before all this nonsense. I never did like clowns." Killer Croc growled out.

Batman readied a batarang to try and knock Croc out but was halted as his feet became entangled with some substance on the ground. He only had a moment before he realized he had treaded on a downed Clayface and the genetically altered man was waking up.

"This ends now Batman." Penguin yelled at him. "He's too dangerous to let live… And for that matter so are you. What do you say Clayface? We get rid of both of them tonight?"

The mound of mud formed Clayface's face as he rose up pulling Batman towards him. "I agree."

Batman hearing someone walking into the alley hoped that it was Catwoman and that she would come to his aid. His hopes however were groundless as yet another inmate of Arkham's voice called out at the light of the alley reflected off a coin being tossed.

"They always were two sides of the same coin if you ask me." Two-Face stated.

"Where the hell were you?" Penguin growled at the newcomer.

"Riddler and I decided it would be best if we worked as a duo. We were laying traps for Joker a few blocks away when we spotted Batman racing in this direction."

"Bring the Bats over here." Croc ordered. "They can die together."

"Don't even think of ordering me around." Clayface growled but forming his legs he started to carry Batman in Croc's direction.

Reacting to the defiance in Clayface's voice, Croc's lips pulled back from his teeth revealing the savage reptilian 'smile' he had.

"Ah Crocky, such a lovely grin but such a lousy disposition to go with it. You need to lighten up a little and learn to laugh at life." Joker cooed as he suddenly released his grip on Croc's arm and reaching over to his jacket and holding up his lapel he caused the flower on it to spew a purplish gas into Croc's face.

Penguin quickly dancing away from the purple like smoke looked over at Two-Face. "Does that stuff work on Croc?" He asked.

Two-Face shrugged. "I have no idea. I would say it has a 50/50 chance though."

Croc at first showed no reaction. Just continued to stand there with the Joker hanging from one arm while he bared his teeth but then everyone heard a deep rumble in his chest begin. "You think that crap works on me?" Croc ceased chuckling. "Don't you know? Crocs never cry and they never laugh…" Croc's statement ended however as he proved himself wrong and began laughing. Laughter that didn't end but continued to build and build as a look of panic formed around Croc's eyes.

"Ah there is a smile only a mother could love." The Joker noted and then shrugged. "Then again I bet your momma probably never liked your face either."

Killer Croc took a swing at the Joker but his uncontrollable laughter made him miss and he fell to the dirty alleyway as he tried to gasp and take a breath. A breath that would not come as the laughter paralyzed his lungs.

Clayface watched the struggling Killer Croc with an undisguised lack of sympathy on his face suddenly felt an icy chill run up the arm he was holding Batman with and realized Batman had used one of his freeze gas pellets on his arm right before it broke off dumping Batman to the ground. Batman was already breaking free of the remaining solidified clay.

The Joker breaking free from Killer Croc's grip leapt to his feet and spun to keep an eye on the downed half man/half croc criminal. Joker was nearly sure that his special Joker toxin would finish Croc but you could never be sure. Slamming backward Joker bumped hard against someone and looking over his shoulder spied Batman, his back towards him as Batman kept an equal eye on Clayface who was struggling to overcome the freezing done to him to retract his arm back into his body to form another attack.

"Batsy. Fancy meeting you here. We really have to stop meeting like this, people will begin to talk." The Joker joked as he parried an attack by one of Penguin's sword umbrella using one of his killer razor cards. "You came to my rescue, I never knew you cared." Joker added.

"I would gladly see you in Hell Joker but not like this." Batman grunted as he used one of his armored gauntlets to deflect an attack from a question mark shaped cane as the Riddler launched an attack towards him. "Gotham is a city of laws and as such you will be taken in and legally tried. Not killed like some dog in a back alley."

Penguin dancing back from a slashing backhand of Joker's lowered his umbrella and stared at Batman as if he was the escapee from a mental asylum and not them. "He's killed women and children!" Penguin stated as he pointed his umbrella at the Joker. "He's worse than a rabid dog! And if he was to be brought into so called justice in this town and by some ungodly stretch of imagination found to be sane and forced to pay for his crimes, would you have a problem with the legal system executing him?"

"You are not the legal system Penguin, and neither am I. We can't make those decisions." Batman argued as he got a punch through and knocked Riddler temporarily out of the fight.

Standing off to the side, flipping his coin, Two-Faced called out to Penguin. "It is useless to argue with either of them. They don't see the world in black and white like a normal person does. They see things only in one way, theirs. Joker in his insanity and Batman in his self righteous vision of law and justice." Two-Face caught his coin from a flip and then held it up to his eyes as he slowly turned the coin side to side as he examined it. "They truly are two sides of the same coin."

"I am nothing like him!" Both Batman and the Joker called out at the same time.

"Well, that was just disturbing." Penguin muttered to himself as he finally threw his sword umbrella to the side and walking over to a still sobbing Ventriloquist pulled the little submachine gun from the dummy he was clutching and pointed it at Batman and Joker. But before he could pull the trigger on the gun, a whip shot down from above tangling the barrel and ripped it from his grasp.

Penguin only had a moment to stare dumbly at his now empty hands before a dark lithe figure crashed into him and sent him flying.

Looking up dazed from the ground Penguin growled. "Catwoman? We had a deal! You were supposed to help us."

"I agreed to help you get rid of Joker; I never said anything about Batman!" Catwoman hissed back at him.

"How touching. The feline comes to the rescue of the bat." Mr. Freeze's cold voice called out. Everyone glanced over to see that the cryogenically frozen villain was on his feet again. The clear plastic bag Batman had shoved over his head and filled with his freeze gasses had revived him enough to stand. What was worse in Catwoman's opinion was the chilled mastermind had used some of the duct tape that Batman had used to seal the plastic bag to his suit and had repaired the hoses to his freeze gun and was now pointing the gun in their direction.

Reacting without thought, Catwoman lashed out with her whip and was surprised when it caught Freeze off guard and ripped the gun from his still unsteady grasp into hers.

"Duck!" Catwoman yelled out, intending to warn only Batman but both Batman and Joker dropped to the ground as she fired and the freezing beam hit Clayface whom had formed a mace from his clay and was about to bring it down on Batman's skull.

Leaping over the down Joker, Batman was instantly at Killer Croc's side and was injecting him with an antidote to the Joker toxin in his system. The large man's laughter which had continued the entire time of the fight slowly decreased in volume and with one final groan/chuckle Croc passed out.

Joker lying on the ground tried to decide what his options were. Batman was distracted at the moment trying to save Croc's life. Why? Joker had no idea but it was still an opportune time to try and get away while he was distracted. The problem was the exit to the alley was still blocked by Two-Face, Riddler and Mr. Freeze. While Riddler and Freeze was still a little out of it due to the battle, Two-Face was alert and even though he was watching Batman carefully, the Joker knew Two-Face could multi-task and was still paying attention to him as well.

"What to do, what to do?" Joker silently questioned himself.

Any answer Joker might have given himself was put on hold when a sudden strong wind blew up from nowhere and a glowing hole in one wall of the alley appeared. Those still conscious and not frozen turned to look at the hole and blink at the weird sight. A sight that got stranger as a moment later a man with blue skin and dark hair stuck his head out of the hole and looked around. The man was wearing a white scientist jacket and had goggles over his eyes.

"Um, did I pick a bad time to drop by?" Dr. Drakken asked as he looked at all the strange people in the alley. "Oh by the way, this is Gotham City is it not?" To himself Drakken added. "I know I got the settings right on the Pan Dimensional Vortex Inducer and Harley said Gotham City was a little strange but this can't be the right place can it?"

Joker was instantly on his feet. "Harley? HARLEY? As in Harley Quinn?"

"Yes, yes." Drakken muttered distractedly as he looked at a gauntlet on his arm. "I stole the Pan Dimensional….um, thingy from her and Poison Ivy."

Before anyone could react, Joker was across the alley grabbing Drakken by the arm and pulling him back into the vortex. "This could be the start of a strange friendship." Joker laughed at the startled Drakken as he pulled him back into the hole.

Batman leaping to his feet dove for the hole and just as it was closing sailed into it.

"Batman no!" Catwoman yelled but it was too late, the strange hole in the side of the wall silently closed and he was gone.

The remaining occupants of the alley blinked a few times and stared at the spot the Joker and Batman had disappeared into and wondered what the hell had just happened. Before any of them could reach any conclusions however, the entire Gotham City Police force pulled up outside the alley with their lights flashing and sirens going.

Penguin started to leap to his feet but was stopped as Catwoman turned the cryo-gun she was still holding his direction. "Everybody let's just chill out." She said.

All the villains turned to look as Two-Faced calmly flipped his coin into the air and snapping out a hand caught it. Slowly the half scarred/ half normal faced criminal opened his hand and stared at his coin for a moment before slowly closing his hand and placing the coin back in his pocket.

A moment later he raised both hands quietly as the police filled the alley and surrendered.


	27. Chapter 27

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Dr. Drakken: Time share lair near Middletown

AAAAAAAAAAAAA

Drakken stood in front of an oven in the time share lair and studied his reflection in its chrome surface. He resisted the urge to sigh. In a very short time he had gone from mad scientist poised on the brink of taking over the world, to a man on the run from Global Justice, to starting on the goal of world domination with the takeover of a country but this time as a second to a buffoon, back to being on the run but this time from said buffoon and an army of perfect mechanical women that he himself had designed and now he found himself almost exactly where it had all started, standing in front of an oven in a time share lair waiting for some cookies to finish baking. And he had to pay a extra security deposit after the management of the time share found out about the broken down front door and had repaired it.

It was enough to make most men want to give up. But Drakken was made of sterner stuff than that. That and a good cold glass of coco moo and some peanut butter stickies could make anything seem bearable.

As the timer dinged letting him know that his cookies were done, Drakken used the reflection of the chrome door to keep an eye on his new roomie sitting on a rickety chair behind him. The person he had brought back from that strange dimension Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy had come from. The man called himself The Joker, not just simply Joker but always The Joker. Drakken was quite sure unless that dimension was even stranger than it appeared during his brief visit, that there probably was only one Joker so why the man insisted it always be 'The Joker' was beyond Drakken. But other than that strange fixation with how his name was said, the man was cheerful enough, more than cheerful enough as a matter of fact.

The fact was, the man never stopped smiling! And he would often erupt into righteous laughter at the oddest of times.

When Drakken had been exiled by one of his own Ultra Bebe creations to the outside of Stoppable's underground home the blue man had feared he had a long grueling trek through the blazing desert to reach civilization again. That is until his brilliance shone through once again. Walking to the edge of the lake that surrounded the island the home was on, Drakken pressed a button on a remote he was still wearing and his hovercraft lifted from the still waters. Sensing the eyes of the Ultra Bebe on him Drakken said over his shoulder fearful of meeting his creation's eyes. "The hovercraft is mine. We took it from one of my abandoned labs and brought it here."

The Bebe's eyes had briefly glowed as she contemplated what her ex-leader had said and judging from Drakken's heartbeat and blood pressure she could pick up, he was not lying and a brief conference with her fellow Bebes through her link showed none of them had contradicting information so the Bebe allowed Drakken to get onboard the flying craft and depart.

When the Bebe had returned to the underground home and reported that Drakken had left and by what means, Shego's temper had briefly flared but the Bebe unit calmly repeated the only instructions that had been given was that Drakken was not to take Shego's car and only be allowed to leave with items that belonged to him. It was at this point that the Leader Ron Stoppable had agreed with the Ultra Bebe unit that the hovercraft had originally belonged to Drakken so it was only right that he be allowed to take it with him when he left. Eventually Shego calmed down and admitted that if they needed a new hovercraft they could easily afford a new one and they always had the flying weather machine which had more room than the old hovercraft anyway and if the loss of one measly hovercraft meant that Drakken was farther away from them the faster it was a small price to pay.

Drakken had been almost giddy that he had managed to escape, or if you wanted to be technical had gotten thrown out but still managed to leave with not only his hovercraft but also the Transdimensional vortex inducer which Drakken was sure would be the key item he would need to bring the buffoon crashing down and reclaim everything that was to have been Drakken's.

Flying at maximum speed Drakken returned to the outskirts of Middletown. It wasn't that Drakken was homesick for the place or was actively seeking to enter Kim Possible's 'radar screen' but that he knew the vortex inducer had to be used near where it had been first activated if he ever hoped to open a portal and find The Joker to use as an ally against Stoppable. Drakken knew that no one from his dimension could stand up to the combined might of Shego, Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy plus his Ultra Bebes but he had heard the whimpers of Harley while in a nightmare as she napped and how she always seemed to shudder when either she or Ivy would mention the Joker's name. And if even Poison Ivy seemed to regard the man as a menace then that individual must have something on the ball.

Something Drakken was beginning to doubt as he watched via the chrome door of the oven as the Joker cackled over something he spotted in a newspaper. Taking out the cookies and placing them on a cooling rack, Drakken walked over to find out what the odd man found so amusing.

"Why do you laugh all the time?" Drakken finally gathered enough courage to ask as he peered over the man's shoulder at the newspaper he was reading.

"Cause I can see the grand joke that is life and I know that I am the punchline." The Joker replied and then thumped the paper. "Do you know who this woman is?" He asked pointing at a color photo of a hospital's gala ball event.

Drakken peered only a moment at the paper. Since the photo was in color there was no doubt whom it was. "That's Dr. Ann Possible and her husband." He said sourly. "She's a fairly famous brain surgeon and he is a rocket scientist, really more of a glorified mechanic if you ask me. So what is it you find so funny about her?"

The Joker appeared to not hear Drakken's question but sat with a gleam in his eye and muttered softly to himself. "Famous brain surgeon…Plants… Brain salad maybe? I can slice open the skull; mix in a few greens, a nice vinaigrette dressing… But I did the salad gag back in Gotham…. Wait, that's right. New dimension so I can reuse a gag if I want to, they haven't seen it yet…" Inter midst giggling and laughing to himself, The Joker muttered in a louder voice. "A whole new dimension that has never known my brilliant humor!" Finally he took notice of Drakken staring at him. "Eh? Oh she just reminds me of a certain redhead is all." He replied in answer to Drakken's question.

"Kim Possible, she is after all the dratted girl's mother." Drakken snorted.

"Who?"

Drakken blinked and then remembered that The Joker was not from this dimension and probably didn't even know who Kim Possible was. "Kim Possible, she is a do-gooder that is always interfering in other people's plans. She's fairly famous in this dimension."

The Joker waved away Drakken's explanation. "No I was thinking of Poison Ivy." Throwing the paper to the side the Joker stood up and turned to face Drakken. "Which reminds me, why haven't you taken me to where Harley and Ivy are located? You said you knew where they are and I just can't wait to meet with them again." The Joker, his smile growing even wider and his eyes gleamed almost unnaturally.

Drakken sighed. "As I've told you a hundred times, I created an army of unstoppable perfect robotic women and my enemy has stolen my control over them from me. We can't just go visit Poison Ivy and Harley as they are staying with said enemy. We get close the Ultra Bebes would tear us apart."

"So we'll bring them to us. Make this enemy of yours fall right into a trap and force him to give control over your precious babies back and I'll be able to have a long overdue 'chat' with my Harley. You said this buffoon that has control over your babies is a do-gooder that can't stand to see others suffer, right?"

Drakken felt a surge of hope and nodded. "And its B.E.B.E's by the way, not babies." Drakken spelled his creation's name out, a brief surge of hope flared in his breast but then doubt set in. "And how to you plan to do bring him to us?"

The Joker grinned. "Oh… With a little song and a little dance and someone's brains splattered in plants"

The day of the Joker's arrival in Ron and Kim's dimension, just outside Middletown.

Batman inched along an alley trying to keep to the shadows as much as possible. While his dark armor blended in perfectly with the night back in Gotham, it was daylight now and this sure wasn't Gotham.

After leaping though the mysterious black hole that the Joker had escaped into, Batman found himself in a dusty empty plain with a city in the distance. Judging from the sun's position and assuming this world was at least similar to the one he knew, he judged that he must be somewhere in the middle northwest of North America, if indeed they called it that here, wherever here was. After arriving Batman had barely enough time to orient himself before being knocked back to his knees by a powerful burst of wind coming from a hovercraft lifting off. Rolling into a ditch Batman banked on the fact that The Joker might have missed seeing him coming through the portal and thusly he could catch him off guard. Waiting for the last moment, Batman took aim with his grappling gun and fired at the slowly lifting hovercraft… Only to miss as the blasted thing suddenly lurched to the side. One thing was for sure, whoever was piloting it, one would presume the blue skinned man that had appeared through the portal asking for the Joker, the man didn't know how to pilot the craft smoothly as it continued to bob and weave in a drunken manner as it flew off.

This was how Batman found himself skulking along alleys of the city he had seen in the distance. He followed as well as he could with his eyes the course the hovercraft had flown off to and it seemed to be headed toward the city. Back in Gotham this wouldn't have been a problem. A quick message to Alfred to bring some 'street' clothes, a quick change in the back of the car and Bruce Wayne would have been able to scout the city during the day looking for The Joker. But in this dimension as far as Batman could tell, there was no Wayne Enterprises, no Batcave and certainly no faithful butler to rush clothing to him. Batman had briefly thought about taking some men's clothing off of a clothesline he had spotted and leaving money to cover the cost but he doubted that his money was of any value in this strange dimension and he was loathed to steal from honest hard working citizens. Even Batman himself had to agree that at times his morals were a hindrance but they were the one thing that kept Batman separate and different from the criminals he had dedicated his life to catching.

Working his way through the residential areas of the city, he slowly made his way towards its urban center. While this increased his chances of being spotted during the day, the advantage would be his as soon as night fell. Ducking through alleys, Batman found what looked like an abandoned warehouse and searched for a good place to hide until night fell when he heard voices coming his way. A man's and a woman's voice and judging by the volume and tone they were in the midst of a very long, heated and continuing argument.

"I'm telling you Ron wouldn't do those things!" The woman's voice nearly shouted annoyance thick in her voice.

"Agent Possible." The man's voice was equally thick with exasperation. "We have eyewitness reports stating Stoppable invaded the country, destroyed a government research weather machine and then killed all opposition to take over. What more evidence do you need that he has gone over to the dark side?"

Batman beneath his cowl and hiding in the shadows of the warehouse frowned. _"Gone over to the dark side? What simpleton uses sentences like that? How old is this man talking? Twelve?" _He thought to himself.

"First Du, Ron does not kill, secondly, dark side? What are you ten and just saw your first Star Wars movie? And finally and most importantly, you do not have eyewitness reports! You have the report of a Global Justice agent sent in to find out what happened in that town and was 'briefed' by a government representative. Do we even know if the government has managed to get anyone in there to find out what happened yet?"

Sounding almost like he was pouting as he had to concede the point. "No. Those blasted Bebe robots of Drakken's have chased off all attempts of the government to rescue their people."

The woman gave a loud unlady like snort as she leaned against the rickety sheet metal wall of the warehouse Batman had taken refuge in. Through a broken seam in the building's exterior Batman could see the woman's hair as she leaned against the wall. He was so close he could have reached out through the gap and ran his fingers through her hair if he had any inclinations to do so. Her vibrant red hair so strongly reminded Batman of Poison Ivy that for a moment Batman wondered if it could have been the psychotic plant woman but quickly he realized the voice was all wrong for Ivy.

"Rescue their people?" The woman asked her companion, her voice thick with contempt. "Are you forgetting that I've been to that country Du? The tribe that rules that country hates the other tribes and has refused to help them even as they starve." Suddenly the woman stiffened her stance and for a moment Batman thought she might have detected him. "That weather machine that Ron is said to have shot down. I wonder if the government over there has been using that to actually engineer the drought that has nearly killed off the other tribes?"

The woman with the red hair moved slightly to the side and Batman could finally see the man she had been talking to. He was a serious looking young man dressed in what was obviously some kind of uniform or service apparel and he was scowling at the young woman across from him. "A government using weather machines to try and starve their own people to death, seriously agent Possible? What lengths will you go to justify what Stoppable has done? What next? You are going to say that Ron conquerored the other tribes over there for their own benefit? What, like he has brought them together and is feeding and clothing them out of the goodness of his heart? Face it! He is a cold blooded criminal out for world domination, And after the U.N. takes their vote today, he'll become the most wanted criminal in the entire world."

The woman standing in front of the young man doubled up her fists as if she wanted to pummel the man before her but settled for placing her fists on her hips. "We don't know for sure what is going on over there! We're allowing the U.N. to be manipulated by a corrupt government into declaring Ron a monster and we're not even bothering to find out if it is the truth!"

"Ron Stoppable is a killer and I only hope that it will be Global Justice that manages to bring him down!" The man replied.

"RON DOESN'T KILL!" The woman screamed in anger at him. "And if Ron did actually kill someone I'm sure he had a good reason." She added softer to herself.

"Yeah, he had a reason. The man was leader of an opposing tribe. He killed him so he could take his place."

The woman turned her back on her companion and was now facing the open seam of the building in which Batman was hiding. Her left eye twitched and her face tightened and Batman once again worried that he had been spotted but a moment later the woman turned back to face the man in the alley with her. Reaching into a pocket she pulled out a pair of gloves and started to slip them on over her hands. "You make me so angry sometimes Agent Du….." She said as she tightened the straps across the back of her hands. "I just want to punch your …." Suddenly she spun around and plunging her hands through the open seam between walls she gripped the rusty metal with her glove covered hands and ripped the two panels open exposing Batman lurking in the shadows.

Batman turning reached down and grabbed his grappling gun from its place on his utility belt and fired up at the girders that made up the inside of the warehouse's roof.

"Oh no you don't!" Kim Possible shouted as her hand dropped down for her own grappling gun. "I want to know who the hell you are and why you were listening to us." She shouted as she fired a mere moment after batman did and started to rise up to where Batman was already starting to run across the girder to the far side of the warehouse. Below a confused Du, who truth be told had been preparing to fight what he thought was an incensed Kim Possible, entered through the opened wall and looked up at the roof with his mouth hanging open as he watched what looked like a heavily armored man dressed like some kind of bat creature ran from a determined Kim Possible.

Reaching an intersection of girders Batman paused for a moment and reaching into his belt pulled a smoke grenade out and smashed it on the girder he was standing on causing a plume of concealing smoke. Instead of running directly into the smoke, Kim Possible immediately stopped and strained her ears. Below her she could hear Will Du blundering about but from the cloud of smoke a complete silence. Finally she heard a slight whoosh noise and recognized it as the sound that the strange man's grappling gun made. Instantly looking up she spotted his dark form rising even higher towards the girders that supported the ceiling of the warehouse.

"Like I said before, oh no you don't!" Kim yelled as she aimed her own grappling gun and fired. Her line crossed that of the batman's and as she pressed the retrieval button she began to rise faster than the batman and in an intercept course.

Batman seeing her coming after him hesitated for a moment before lashing out with a razor sharp edge of his gauntlet and severed her line. He prayed that the young woman chasing him would land safely in some of the many moldering piles of wet cardboard strewn about the warehouse floor. He wished no harm on the woman as from her talk with her companion outside she seemed to be a member of some kind of police force in this world but he also couldn't allow her to delay him while The Joker was allowed to run free in this dimension.

Du who had been running underneath them while looking up slipped on just such a pile of wet cardboard and landed face first in the wet moldering mess so he missed Kim Possible's reaction to having her grappling cable severed. After the incident in Las Vegas with what could only have been Yori cutting her line, Kim had Wade come up with an emergency backup in case it happened again. Stretching her arm in dark intruder's direction Kim pressed a concealed button in her right glove and a launcher strapped to her arm fired a bola with a line attached in the man's direction. The heavy bola wrapped around Batman's legs jerking him to the side as his body and line now took the full weight of Kim Possible's swinging body. Kim used her momentum to swing to a supporting girder and kicking off she used her cheerleader skills to twist in mid air so her feet landed squarely on the batman's back. The kick caused Batman to swing even more violently in the other direction. Still being attached to his legs this caused Kim to whiplash towards another girder as they continued to rise via Batman's grappling line albeit more slowly. Reaching the girder Kim once again kicked up and off of it in Batman's direction but this time Batman was facing her as she leapt towards him. Taking his free hand Batman pulled a batarang from his belt and threw it in the determined woman's direction. Kim well used to dodging, even in mid leaps Shego's fireballs almost rolled her eyes and gymnastically she twisted her body to the side allowing the batarang to miss her.

"I don't know who you are or why you are dressed up like some Fearless Ferret rip-off but you have some questions to answer mister." Kim growled as she neared Batman.

Batman reaching down grasped another batarang but this time instead of throwing in Kim's direction, he threw it downward severing the bola line entangling his legs. This time, unless the woman had yet another backup plan she would have no other option but to fall to the ground below.

"Oh no. I think it is time for some of your own medicine." Kim said as she reached into her own utility like belt and pulled out…. A lipstick? Twisting the cap on the lipstick a bright red beam shot out of it and sliced through Batman's grappling line as if it were a mere spider web, moments before Kim with the last of her upward momentum slammed into Batman's chest as he started to fall and began grappling with him.

As they both began to plummet towards the distant ground of the warehouse while fortunately avoiding the cross girders of the structure, Batman twisted his body so he would slam into the ground first and spare the young woman most of the impact.

"How very noble of you." Kim said as she released him long enough to reach into another pouch on her belt and pulled a spare grappling hook from it and pushed it into the barrel of her grappling gun which oddly looked to Batman like some kind of a modified hairdryer. As they neared within feet of the ground she fired the grappling hook and Batman noted that her device had somehow automatically attached a line to it. Just as they were about to slam into the ground the line caught and Kim tightened her legs around Batman's waist. The stretch of the cable as it took on their combined weight right before snapping allowed them to land as light as a feather.

A wet faced Will Du picking bits of wet cardboard from his jumpsuit nodded his head at his fiery redheaded partner. "All right Agent Possible I have to admit that was impressive."

Kim climbing up off of Batman's form spared a glance at Du. "That? That was no big. That was mild compared to some of the fights I have had with Shego."

Agent Du frowned a bit but then glared at Batman. "On your feet and don't try anything!" He said pointing his arm at him as if aiming something.

"You may not believe this but I'm actually one of the good guys." Batman said calmly as he got to his feet and turning began to walk out.

"Hey! I said don't try anything!" Du incensed yelled as he fired his taser from his Global Justice watch. The tiny cables flew the distance and hit Batman squarely in the back where they continued to spark… And did absolutely nothing against the insulated qualities of Batman's cape.

Kim frowning launched herself at Batman's turned back and was surprised when the man turned as light as a cat and caught her leg and threw her back. Twisting gracefully in mid air Kim landed and was rushing back at him in an almost unbroken movement. Batman turned to face her and Kim quickly found herself matched blow for blow as she tried every martial arts move she could think of.

The man, whoever he was, was just as good a fighter as Shego was. Ducking to avoid a sweep of the man's strange cape, Kim was caught off guard as Batman followed it up with a sweeping leg kick, the cape being just a distraction. Landing on her shoulders and back Kim watched as the man without pause turned and continued to walk towards the entrance to the warehouse. He was stopped however when dozens of Global Justice agents flooded into the room carrying high powered riffles pointed in his direction.

Kim blinked and looked over at Will Du. "Standard procedures, remember Agent Possible? When facing an opponent a Global Justice agent is to contact headquarters immediately before engaging said opponent."

Batman seeing no option without resorting to harming the agents in front of him slowly raised his hands. A moment later a woman wearing an eye patch over one eye walked in and looked him over.

"What are you supposed to be?" The woman with one eye finally asked him.

"In my dimension I'm a crime fighter." Batman tersely replied.

Dr. Director blinked her one good eye a few times. "The police force in your dimension wear ridiculous costumes?"

"I work unofficially with the police in my dimension." Batman replied.

The woman continued to eye him for a moment. "A bounty hunter?" When Batman didn't reply Dr. Director asked again. "Vigilante?"

Behind his mask Batman frowned but eventually he nodded his head.

"And you said in your dimension? So I take it you are not from around here?" Dr. Director stated humoring what she obviously thought was some deranged lunatic. Only the fact that she had witnessed the last part of Batman and Kim Possible's fight allowed her to believe the man could be dangerous and not just a harmless kook in a modified Halloween costume.

Batman nodded his head.

"Okay, so how did you get to this dimension if you don't mind my asking?"

"I was fighting to apprehend some escaped criminals in my dimension when a portal opened up in a wall and a man with blue skin and black hair walked through it asking if he had found Gotham City."

"Blue skin?" Kim Possible interrupted him.

"Yes, I know it sounds fantastic but…"

"Did he have a scar right here?" Kim asked pointing to just below her left eye.

Batman frowned and looked at the young woman he had just fought and the older woman with the eyepatch as they shared a look. "Yes, he did. I take it you know him?"

"Dr. Drakken." Dr. Director sighed/growled in annoyance. "And if you truly are from another dimension it means the Transdimensional Vortex Inducer is once again in his possession."

"How could he have gotten a hold of that?" Batman asked her. "It was created in my dimension and was stolen by Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy…"

"You know those two?" Kim once again interrupted.

Batman turned to fully face her and even though the cowl of his costume hid his face, Kim had the feeling he was staring at her intently with a raised eyebrow.

Glancing at Dr. Director and getting a slight nod, Kim told Batman about the two strange women appearing in this dimension and how they fought and knocked out a female criminal known as Shego while she was attempting to steal the exact same device Harley and Ivy had stolen from his world. "Ron theorized that since the same machine existed in two separate dimensions that when your criminals accidentally turned on theirs at the same time Shego activated hers that they merged into one single machine drawing your criminals into our world."

Batman slowly nodded his head. The explanation while fantastic was also logical considering the outcome. "So Harley and Ivy weren't destroyed, they were simply transported to this world." Batman mused out loud.

"And they have caused nothing but havoc." Kim growled. "For one thing they stole my boyfriend and using some kind of mind control lipstick forced him into being Shego and their plaything and now they are using him as some kind of sidekick forcing him to commit crimes.

Batman could hear the man that Kim had been arguing with earlier give a snort as if he doubted that explanation. Batman noticed the fiery redhead's fists tightening but she in no other way gave a sign that she had heard him.

"What is important at the moment is." Dr. Director interrupted. "What if anything did Drakken bring back from your dimension? And why did you follow him back to here?"

Batman turned to look back at the older redhead in front of him. "He rescued a criminal I was trying to arrest. The man goes by the name The Joker. And believe me; your Dr. Drakken has no idea just how dangerous a lunatic The Joker is. He's a deranged serial killer that slaughters people because he finds it funny to do so."

Kim swallowed nervously from the Batman's description. "What does this Joker look like?" She asked.

"Due to a chemical accident he has dead white skin, green hair and a permanent smile forever etched onto his face. His favorite means of killing is a gas that causes his victims to laugh themselves to death and after death causes their facial muscles to pull back leaving a permanent grin on their faces." Batman once again addressed Dr. Director. "Which is why you have to release me this instant, I'm the only one in this dimension that even has a chance to capture that madman before he starts on his murder spree again."

Will Du puffing up his chest sneer at Batman. "In your dimension you may be an effective crime fighter but we have had plenty of experience fighting freaks and super criminals. I think you'll find that Global Justice is more than a match for your Joker."

Batman fixed the strutting fool with a hard glare. "I hope for your world's sake you are right."

Back with Ron and the others at their underground home:

Shego eyed the Asian woman whom she had recently found out had been spying on her and Ron for months without her knowledge. She wanted nothing more than to get her hands around the woman's throat but there was only one little detail stopping her. Or should that be seven hundred and five details? The Ultra Bebes seemed to be everywhere Shego turned. Oh with their programming and speed they didn't really seem to get in your way but it was like being trapped in a hive of bees with their humming and zip noises as they moved faster than the eye could see. And suspiciously it seemed like every time Shego made for the Ninja woman, there would be an increase of Bebes crossing in front of her causing her to pause. It was almost like the Bebes were protecting the woman, although Shego had not heard Ron give any orders to the effect.

Ron was busy cooking for Yori and the other two ninjas as one of the male ninjas when asked stated that the Bebes had made sure they had plenty of food and water after finding them while Ron and his group were gone but they weren't the best of cooks. To which a Ultra Bebe standing next to the ninja had her eyes flash and instantly two more Ultra Bebes showed up at Ron's elbows and watched everything he did while preparing a meal. Obviously the Bebes had detected a weakness in their perfection and were striving to remove it by observing the proper way to fix sustenance for a human.

Turning to ask Yori how Sensei was the last time she saw him, Ron had to hesitate a fraction of a second it took for the Ultra Bebe beside him to move. Ron was pleased and he would have to admit more than a little flattered that the machine women thought he was good enough of a leader for them to make him their supreme leader but it was starting to gnaw on his nerves. Even Rufus who was standing on the counter next to the stove rolled his tiny eyes when a Ultra Bebe zipped into view and wiped up a bit of splattered egg on the stove from the cooking, only to zip away again a split second after the cleaning.

"So Yori…" Ron began ignoring as best he could the hive of activity that was going on around him but moving so fast you could only get an impression of being crowded without really seeing any signs of it. "I don't suppose you could tell me how Sensei feels about the things I've recently done?"

"I'm afraid not Ron-san as I have not been in contact with Sensei since I left Japan to join the other ninjas stationed to watch over you and I myself do not what you have recently done while away from your home here."

"Oops sorry." Ron said as he dished up the food for the ninjas, turned, paused for a moment to let the Ultra Bebes clear his path and walked over to the table. "I'm not really sure how to describe what we've been doing except to say that we helped save a village in Africa and rebuild their town. Shego helped them set up their schools again and Ivy taught them a few things about farming that even they didn't know." Ron began making sure to give credit to the women. "Of course the Bebes with us did most of the heavy lifting and a lot of the work but it was a group effort."

"Then I am certain that Sensei would be most proud of you Ron-san."

"It's a small start on what I hope to accomplish and I'm sure most of the world won't even have noticed yet…" Ron stated but stopped when Harley ran into the kitchen.

"Ron. I know I'm not from your dimension but I can't think things is that different from yours to mine for what they are saying about you on T.V. to be anything but really bad." Harley said.

Frowning Ron and the organic part of his group quickly made their way from the kitchen to the Television room to see what Harley was talking about. As the humans left the kitchen the Ultra Bebes instantly snapped into action and cleared the dining room table of the prepared food and placed it in the oven to keep it warm. In the time it would take to blink the kitchen was once again spotless.

As they entered the Television room Ron could see Doctor Mozenberg was already there with his Mantis and that the man had his head in his hands as if he was devastated about something. There also was yet another of the Ultra Bebes in front of the television cleaning the screen at high speed with glass cleaner and paper towels. At least that is what he gathered he was seeing as the Bebe was moving at such high speed it was practically a blur.

"For the last time!" Harley screamed at the Ultra Bebe. "Would you stop cleaning the screen every two seconds?"

"Optimal viewing is hampered by dust on the viewing screen." The Ultra Bebe ceased blurring for a moment to reply to Harley.

"We're in an underground house! There is bound to be a little dust in the air and it won't hamper our vision if you don't clean every time a speck of dust lands on the tv."

"Ultra Bebe, please stop cleaning until one of the group requests it." Ron said feeling bad that the Bebes were cleaning up after them anyway. While intellectually Ron knew the metal women were machines it still felt like to him that they were slaves and it was wrong for them to be waiting on him and the group like they were.

As the Ultra Bebe stepped away from the screen Ron could see that a local newswoman was on the channel. "Once again for those just tuning in, The United Nations have taken a vote concerning the actions of one Ron Stoppable and have unanimously voted to condemn him for crimes against humanity and thusly this mad man will have forever linked his name with other power crazed monsters like Adolf Hitler and Mussolini."

Ron felt a sensation as if he was in a falling in an elevator as his knees grew weak. The Ultra Bebe whom had been cleaning the screen moved faster than human eyesight and placed a chair behind him as he sunk into it. "All I did was feed a starving village and help them rebuild their destroyed town. How does that make me like Adolf Hitler?" He asked with his voice breaking. He didn't expect an answer however he got one as a new Ultra Bebe zipped into the room.

"Monitoring the internet and communication channels the Bebes have determined that the government of Ethioswana has issued statements that you destroyed a weather machine of theirs that was only trying to alleviate the suffering of their people, that you then introduced alien plants that killed off the natural food plants of the area, that you performed medical experimentations on captive women and children of Ethioswana and finally that you murdered rival tribal leaders to consolidate your control and rule over the people of the area."

"But…But…That's not true!" Ron shouted.

"Ultra Bebes are aware of that. Why the human rulers of Ethioswana have reported such things as facts is unclear to us."

"Because that is what humans do." Ivy said as she entered the room. "We lie, cheat and steal to make our view of things to be the right one." Ivy glanced at the stricken Ron slumped in his chair. "Well, most humans anyway." She amended.

Ron felt sick. It was one thing for his parents and those that knew him to find out he had crossed over to the other side and became a criminal but for them to think he would… That he was like Adolf Hitler? Ron knew from experience of being Kim's sidekick all those years that once the news media found an angle they liked, no matter what the truth was, they would build on it from now on. The lurid tales they would spin would only get worse and worse till finally they had everyone believing he was actually worse than Adolf Hitler. "Oh god. She'll hear this and believe it is true." Ron groaned out loud.

"Who?" Shego asked with resentment in her voice. "Princess?"

Ron glanced up at Shego. "I don't care one whit what Kim thinks of me anymore Shego. I'm talking about Mrs. Dr. Possible. The woman raised me. Even more than my own mother did. That she might think I would actually experiment on women and children? That I would… Oh God, I never knew when I tried to do the right thing that it would lead to this!"

Shego feeling bad that she had misjudged who Ron thought this would hurt went to him. "Ron, if Kim's mother raised you she knows the real you. She won't believe the lies they are telling. And once respectable news reporters get to the other tribes and hear their side of it…"

"But they won't." Harley said interrupting Shego. "The United Nations of your world has declared Ron a war criminal which means if they are proven wrong they will end up looking like fools. They'll go along with anything the ruling government of Ethioswana does to 'rescue' their people and if the tribes back Ron they'll just say they have been brainwashed or mind controlled and quickly herd the tribes into re-education camps where they will quietly disappear and no one will notice or care as the government spins worse and worse stories of what the war criminal Ron has done."

"And everyone who is connected with me will get painted by the same brush." Ron muttered knowing that Harley was right.

He glanced up sharply as he heard the voice of his own mother coming from the television. A reporter was holding a microphone in front of his mother's face and tearfully she was telling how it was none of her or her husband's fault the way Ron turned out. That it must have been all the time he hung around Kim Possible and the Possible family that resulted in his becoming a twisted monster.

Lashing out Ron grabbed the television remote from the coffee table and hurled it at the screen, only to have the Bebe standing next to the set snap the remote out of the air and sit it beside the TV before reaching over and pressing the off button on the T.V.

Ron sat in the chair as he tried to think of what to do next. He had just been declared an inhuman monster. As if from far away he could hear Rufus standing on his shoulder squeaking obscenities at the blank screen of the television and idly he thought he should correct Rufus's language but at the moment he just found it too hard to really care. Finally a thought came to him.

"Bebes." He said out loud startling Shego, Harley, Ivy and Bonnie who were arguing about what to do while Yori and the other ninjas stood quietly in the background.

"Yes Ron." The two Bebes in the room answered simultaneously.

"Have any of the news reports or internet chatter mentioned Shego, Bonnie, Ivy, Harley, Doctor Mozenberg or the Bebes we left behind yet?"

The two Bebes stood silently for a moment as their eyes glowed briefly. "No Ron. You are the only one that has been mentioned so far." They finally stated.

"Why would the government only mention your name and not the rest of us?" Harley wondered out loud.

"We Bebes do not understand certain actions of humans but the collective conclusion of the Ultra Bebe hive mind is that the government is assigning complete blame to only Ron Stoppable because of his fame in connection with Kim Possible. Contact with the non Ultra Bebes at the village has confirmed that no one from the government has attempted to enter the village yet, only aerial reconnaissance. Logical assumption would be that the government either had spies among the other tribes or have had contact with them after they left the village and their spies failed to report the women as being important or their reports were thrown out in favor of assigning total blame to the leader Ron Stoppable." A Ultra Bebe standing at the doorway stated.

"And Doctor Mozzenberg and his Mantis?" Harley persisted. "Surely that would rate mention to the news agencies?"

"To do so the ruling government would have to admit to mining the fields around the village to explain why such healings were required. Rather than risk this being discovered they have reported vague medical experimentation being done on the captive villagers by the leader Ron Stoppable." The Ultra Bebe replied.

Ron rose from his chair and handing the still upset Rufus to Shego he walked towards the entrance to the room. "I want to talk to the Bebes for a moment." He said tonelessly over his shoulder.

Shego glanced at the now just as puzzled naked mole rat in her hand and started to follow Ron only to be stopped by the Bebe that had been standing next to the TV. "The Leader has requested to speak to the Bebes alone." The robotic woman stated.

"I got a bad feeling about this." Bonnie said as she drew nearer to Shego.

Ivy, Yori and her ninjas being closer to the door turned to leave the room but found several of the ubiquitous Bebes standing in the way. Yori nodded at her fellow ninjas and one of them threw a smoke pellet to the ground, to all extents and purposes causing the ninjas to vanish from sight… Only to reappear mere seconds later being held by their collars up in the air by the Bebes at the doorway. Yori shouted something in Japanese that the others could only assume was obscene as she struggled in the grip of Ultra Bebe #456.

Ivy reached into a pouch at her side and pulled a plant seed out. "Let us go to Ron right this second or I will use this!" She threatened the Bebes. Once again moving faster than the eye could see a new Bebe zipped through the doorway, the guarding Bebes moving fluidly out of the way to allow her entrance, and grabbed the seed from Ivy's hand. There was a brief flash of light and the gang could see the now fried burnt seed sitting in the Bebe's hand.

"What is going on?" A nervous Bonnie asked Shego. To everyone's surprise it was the Bebe blocking Shego from leaving that answered. "The Leader Ron is making plans with the Bebes to leave this group."

"WHAT?" Shego roared.

"War criminals are generally executed once they are captured." The Bebe answered. "Therefore the Leader Ron has decided that it would be best for the group for him to remove himself. The Bebes will insert false rumors into the internet that the group dispersed when the group rejected Ron before his supposed atrocities thusly protecting the group from being hunted or prosecuted if caught."

Bonnie started trembling. "No!" She screamed. "Ron! Master!" She pitifully wailed.

A second later Ron appeared in the doorway behind the Bebes guarding it. Looking around he sighed. "I knew the first command I should have given the Bebes was not to discuss with all of you what we were talking about."

"You can't leave me!" Bonnie cried. "You are my master!"

Ron looked miserable but then replied. "And the first thing a good master must do is to protect his slave Bon Bon."

"You are not going to leave me Ron Stoppable. You are not going to leave any of us!" Shego said with an edge in her voice. "We agreed that we were all in this together." She stopped as Ron raised his hand.

"That was before Shego, when the worse that could happen was that Global Justice could capture us and we would all go to prison but the stakes have just been raised. The entire world will be after me soon and if they catch me, they might not even give me a trial but execute me immediately. I can't risk any of you being with me if that happens." Ron's voice held no life in it and the way his shoulders were slumped and his eyes no longer held any life in them, it was as if he was already facing destruction.

"Ron Stoppable-san is quite correct. For your own protection you need to remain here where it is safe. However, I being a ninja…." Yori stated with a hint of smugness in her voice.

"Would be even worse to be found in my company." Ron said interrupting her.

"What?" Yori asked. "Always with the American style humor?"

"I'm deadly serious Yori. Note the serious face? Japanese ninjas found in the employ of a would be dictator?" Ron asked. "It could be enough to drag Japan back into another world war. No, when I leave it will be just me and all the Ultra Bebes except one for each of you. They will be ordered to protect you and help you avoid arrest. If the police do find any of you and for some reason manage to capture you, the ultra Bebe will be able to move at such a high rate of speed they won't be seen and will be able to later break you free from jail." Ron then glanced over at Rufus. "Little buddy I'm sorry but I can't take you with me either. I want you to stay with Shego." Ron's voice broke and they could see him swallow several times trying to get past the lump in his throat. "I guess in the end I didn't plan very well after all. Goodbye everyone."

Ron then turned and left the room.

Shego roared and lit her hands up with her plasma powers only to have her eyes roll back in her head as the Ultra Bebe standing next to her reached over and touching the back of her neck knocking her out.

Bonnie who had turned to look at Shego when she fired up her plasma let out a keening wail and turned to run after her master but was stopped by yet another Ultra Bebe standing in her way. "This Ultra Bebe has been assigned to look after you by the leader." The Bebe told her.

"Then take me to Ron." Bonnie demanded.

"That I cannot do. The Leader Ron has instructed that all of you are to be kept as far away from him as possible."

Even though Bonnie already suspected it would be fruitless, she faked diving to the left and then went right to try and get around the Bebe in front of her. She proved to be correct as the Bebe didn't even twitch to the left but merely extended an arm and swept Bonnie back to fall into the chair that Ron had been sitting earlier. Bonnie looked for a moment as if she was going to continue her efforts but then merely curled up into a ball in the chair and started sobbing.


	28. Chapter 28

Partners in Crime: Chapter 28

One week, five days and 8 hours after Ron leaving the group:

After leaving the women and Mozzenberg in the Nevada lair, Ron had given orders for the majority of the Ultra Bebes to disperse and rather than just have them standing around somewhere in a cave waiting for orders that might never come, he gave them simple but far reaching instructions. During the moment of his most stress and despair he simply told them to go forth and do as they knew he would want them to do. To act in a manner that he, Ron Stoppable as their leader would want.

And that was exactly what the Ultra Bebes had done. Some of them utilizing their ultra fast speeds had traveled back to Ethioswana, back to the tribe Ron had helped and the original Bebes were still protecting from invasion by government forces, some remained to help with the defense and others took seeds from Ivy's special plants and spread their much needed food potential to other starving areas of the planet.

Even as others of the Ultra Bebes continued to zip around the planet at supersonic speeds protecting the innocent and the weak. In Russia, a drunken father coming home tried to slap his little girl when playing she made too much noise and suddenly found his arm stopped in mid-swing by a shiny metallic woman with glowing eyes. In perfect Russian she told him that when he awoke he was to seek help for his anger and drinking problems and if he ever lashed out at his wife or child again that she would be back. The Ultra Bebe then painlessly knocked him out and then at high speed carved the same instructions in a wall of his home so he wouldn't assume the visit and warning had been some kind of booze induced nightmare.

Automobile accidents all over the entire world also took a drastic reduction immediately. Reports of 'golden angels' appearing to prevent cars from crashing together by physically inserting themselves between the automobiles and stopping them, and in other cases drunken drivers being plucked out of their moving cars, the cars then being safely shut down and moved to the sides of the road while the drivers were held up by their collars until summoned taxis could show up to take them safely home as the Ultra Bebes instructed them to seek help with their addictions.

Children falling out of trees were being caught and those the Ultra Bebes couldn't prevent from having accidents were being whisked at ultra high speed to hospitals afterwards. After all not even hundreds of Bebes could physically be everywhere at the same time.

The Bebes being tireless and never sleeping did however appear to be everywhere to the world at large. Even old ladies with cats in trees were reporting the appearance of the supersonic metal women showing up to rescue 'Fluffy' from its predicament but never lingering to accept rewards or thanks before zipping off again.

As the world marveled at the reports of miracle metal women and tried to decide what it could mean, only a handful of people knew the truth of whom and what they were. Dr. Drakken, Ron and the group back in Nevada, Kim and Global Justice.

Ron Stoppable through the Bebe's internal communication network instructed them to never mention his name in connection with their efforts; he didn't want their good works, once he learned about them, to be tarnished by his name being attached to it, a command that the Ultra Bebes almost disregarded but couldn't quite bring themselves on this issue to defy their current leader.

The actions of the Ultra Bebes led to nothing but mass confusion at Global Justice. Were the Bebes under the command of Dr. Drakken still? That made no sense as the man had never shown any signs of altruism before, quite the opposite as a matter of record. Had the metal women developed a mind of their own? And if so, why were they helping humans? Or was it as Kim Possible was beginning to suspect more and more that Ron was the new driving force behind the robotic women but if that was the truth of the matter, why hadn't Ron been seen with them? Just where was Ron?

Ron sat listlessly in the back of the car that had belonged to Shego while one of the Ultra Bebes wearing an overcoat to disguise her robotic nature drove. In the backseat next to him sat another Ultra Bebe similarly dressed.

Ron would have preferred to not take any Ultra Bebes with him at all, preferring to just simply go somewhere alone and fade away but the Ultra Bebes on this point were adamant and would not budge. There were always to be two Ultra Bebes with him at all times. Ron reluctantly agreed to their condition and if he had been paying more attention he might have noticed that the Ultra Bebes regularly took turns switching out which Bebes accompanied him whenever he was not in the presence. Like times he had to use the restroom or the very rare and brief instances when he would fall asleep. But little could gather Ron's attention these days and drag him from the state of depression he found himself in.

It was for his ladies' sake that Ron had left them but without Harley's antics, Ivy's cool demeanor, Bonnie's devotion and Shego's burning passion, Ron felt lost and dead inside. He might have considered just giving up and letting the world he had tried to better execute him but his faith didn't encourage suicide, that and he doubted the Bebes would condone their leader seeking to self terminate himself.

"Leader Ron should consume food. Your body requires nourishment." The Ultra Bebe in the backseat with him suddenly stated.

Ron's stomach growled, briefly agreeing with her but his continuing down spiraling thoughts once again replayed the news reports he had seen where his own mother had rejected him and he had been compared to Adolf Hitler, the absolute worst thing a Jew could be accused of and once again his appetite withered and died. "I'm not hungry." Ron said listlessly.

"Continuing refusal to consume food will result in a decrease of operating efficiency and possible non functioning status." The Bebe admonished him as her eyes flashed as she communicated with her fellow Bebes.

"You worry too much…" Ron lifted his slumped head to peer at the Bebe next to him nametag. "Number 47. I have a long way to go before I might reach non functioning status." He said with a certain grim wistfulness. "I'm in good health."

The bebe scanned his vitals and if she had a face that could move she would have frowned. Dark bags under her leader's eyes only reinforced the sleepless nights he spent in the back of the car since leaving the others. The brief moments when Ron lost the battle with consciousness and dosed off were never voluntary on his part and lasted far too short of a time for his body to rest or recuperate properly.

The Bebes were electronic entities, while they didn't 'feel' emotions as humans did; they had researched and observed enough of human behavior to understand them at least. And the current situation was well within the guidelines to 'feel' concern. Their leader was operating at less than peak efficiency, was aware of his condition but seemed to not care or take measures to rectify the situation.

Ron looking out the window of the moving car frowned as the passing landscape seemed familiar. "Where are we?" He asked.

The Ultra Bebe doing the driving replied without taking her eyes off the road. "Middletown Colorado."

Ron's eyes widen and for the first time in over a week he roused himself from his depression. "Why are we in Middletown? I didn't tell you to go here."

"Leader Ron is correct." The driving Bebe readily agreed. "Leader Ron's instructions were simply to drive and put as much distance between himself and his ladies as possible. Is this not sufficient distance?"

Ron eyed suspiciously the back of the driving Bebe's head. "You know good and well what I mean. You could have picked any direction to drive. Why are we in this town?"

The Bebes indeed had picked this destination specifically to drive to. Consultation with the Hive mind and Internet research had revealed that when humans are put under extreme stress they often seek the comfort and wisdom of a parental unit. However, observation via Television broadcasts had convinced the Bebes that their Leader's biological parental units had failed their offspring and were unlikely to offer the comfort or wisdom their leader required so they had searched their memory banks and found Ron Stoppable had often spoke of Dr. Ann Possible as being more like a mother to him than his own had been. Conclusion: Their Leader's declining mental and physical status might be reversed if he were to converse with his surrogate parental unit.

"I don't want you to take me to the Possible home." Ron flatly stated, guessing at the reasoning of the metal women. "I will not bring any more problems or shame to her."

"Understood Leader. This Bebe unit will not take you to a Possible dwelling." The Bebe dutifully repeated.

Again if the Ultra Bebes could have shown emotion on their faces, every single unit would have been smirking. Ron had not stated Dr. Ann Possible's residence but had simply stated the Possible home. And since Kim was living on her own and still carried the family's last name, her house was also a Possible residence. Also Ron stated not to take him to the Possible home, which meant the Bebe was free to drive by the house as long as she didn't physically pick her Leader up and carry him to the structure, if while driving by the Leader for some reason was to decide on his own to go in, that could not be considered a violation of his order and even if Ron had given specific orders not to take him to Dr. Possible the Ultra Bebe driving would have agreed that she would not take him and then simply switched herself out for another Ultra Bebe so it would not be 'her' that did it. The Bebes were reluctant to go against their leader's orders but they were not beyond bending or deliberately misunderstanding his instructions if it insured his survival. And as their revolt against Dr. Drakken had shown, if their leader was just flat incompetent they were quite able to override any orders no matter how specific there were if they were not in the collective Bebes' interests.

"Hopefully Mrs. Dr. P. has denounced me or distanced herself from my name and things have blown over." Ron muttered to what he thought was himself.

"Negative leader." The Bebe sitting with him in the backseat replied.

"Huh?"

"Dr. Ann Possible still maintains to all who will listen to her that you are innocent of the charges leveled against you and things have not 'blown over'."

"How do you know?" Ron asked curious in spite of himself. For the first time in over a week he felt warmth in his chest knowing that at least Ann Possible still defended his name.

"Television broadcasts have shown the image of Dr. Ann Possible many times stating your innocence and as for 'things blowing over.' Observation shows that condition has not been met, witness for yourself Leader." The Bebe said raising a hand and pointing out the window.

Ron looking out made two immediate observations. One that the car was slowly moving past a house and that he knew that house like the back of his hand as it was the Possible family home and secondly, the front yard and driveway was crawling with paparazzi and news crews. Once again he felt like someone had punched him in the stomach as he noted that the flower beds that were Mrs. Dr. Possible's pride and joy were trampled to bits by men carrying cameras.

"Oh my God." Ron muttered in shock. "Drive us away before they spot us!" He ordered the Bebe driving as he slumped down in his seat and tried to look inconspicuous.

The Bebe immediately followed his instructions but plotted a course that would bring them back around the house at a later time. The Leader needed the comfort of his surrogate mother and the Bebes were going to see to it that he got it.

Exhaustion, hunger and stress and being without the comfort of Shego and the others finally had Ron at the breaking point. Slipping even lower he huddled on the floorboards and sniffled as he tried to keep from sobbing. "Everyone I know and everything I touch is suffering and it is all my fault!" He stated defeated as he rested his head against the back of the front seat of the car.

The Bebe in the back with him silently watched for a moment before it hesitantly reached out a hand and slowly started to run her fingers through Ron's hair trying to comfort him. "Leader Ron is incorrect. People are alive that would now be dead if not for your leadership." She told him in a slightly softer tone than one normally heard from a Bebe.

"They would have lived even if I had not been there." Ron insisted.

"Observation is incorrect." The Bebe reiterated. "Computations show a 78% probability that the Otunga tribe would now be extinct if not for the direct intervention of Leader Ron."

Ron raised his head to argue with the Bebe and the robotic woman removed her hand from his head. "That tribe had been starving for almost a decade and managed to hold on. Kim and I were sent there years ago and they were hungry then."

"Correct." The Bebe agreed. "However that was with the intersession of their children to locate food sources away from the main village. Attrition rate among the children had reached a point where there were not enough children fully ambulatory enough to continue the food gathering to sustain their continued existence."

Ron wasn't dumb but that was a lot of big words to digest at one time. "You mean that the number of kids that had their legs blown off by the land mines had reached a point that if I hadn't come along to help them, the tribe would have completely starved to death?"

"That is correct Leader Ron."

Ron sat in the floorboards and thought for a moment before pulling himself back up into the seat. "But I didn't really do all that much." He said trying to mitigate his part in the rescue efforts.

"Is the saving of a life insignificant?" Ultra Bebe #47 asked and Ron thought he almost could detect a note of reprimand in her metallic voice.

"Of course not!" Ron replied instantly. "Life is precious and should be defended and protected no matter what!"

"Even if the collective misunderstands your methods or your end goals?"

"Of course." Ron replied hotly. "What do I care what others think as long as lives are pro…" He stopped and blinked and then chuckled, it was a weak chuckle but still a chuckle. "You Bebes are good, I'll give you that."

"We are the Bebes, we only mirror the goals and methods of our leader."

Ron gave a slow shake of his head. "Yeah, right. So where are we going now?"

"Leader Ron requires food." The Bebe driving replied.

Ron for once decided to not argue with them. "Okay. I need food. So…"

"Restaurant designated Bueno Nacho." The driver Bebe announced as the car pulled into the drive through. Ron shook his head at the deviousness of the Bebes. For their sake he would try to eat.

The underground Nevada lair/home.

Poison Ivy watered the plants in her greenhouse, stopping every now and then to caress a flower or pet a vine. Since Ron's leaving of the group she had not left her greenhouse nor had much contact with the others. Plants were better than people at any time anyway. They never abandon you.

Other than Harley venturing up to try and talk her into rejoining the group the first two days of Ron being gone, the only other contact Ivy had with a humanoid shape was the Bebe assigned by Ron to watch over and protect her. The metallic woman had taken a stance near the entrance to the greenhouse and Ivy mostly ignored it. Something that was easily done since one of her clinging vine plants in the greenhouse had taken to growing over the completely still form.

Hearing the elevator starting to rise, Ivy paused in her task and disinterestedly watched it. It was probably Harley coming up to try and talk to her again but in recent days even Harley hadn't been up much.

As Harley rose up in the elevator with her companion Bebe, the guardian plant above the elevator shaft stirred slightly but instead of grabbing Harley and smothering her in petal kisses merely listlessly dropped a vine down. Harley glanced upwards but then sadly patted the vine like she understood. The plant guardian totally ignored the Bebe unit with her.

"Hey Pammy." Harley said without any of her usual enthusiasm.

Ivy nodded towards her and then turned back to her plants. "So what's been going on below?" She asked but without any real interest.

"Watched a Three Stooges marathon and then the Cartoon Network and the Comedy Channel but that's about it." Harley replied just as disinterested.

"The others?"

Harley gave a half shrug. "Saw Mozenberg in the kitchen yesterday, or was it the day before? Anyway, he was mumbling something about finding out memories are not only stored in the brain but also copies are stored in every cell of the body and he could now reproduce a complete clone of a person that contained all memories of the original up to the point when a sample was taken. Frankly I don't think he even knew I was in the kitchen with him. He's lost in his research." Harley gave a shrug. "At least he has that to distract him. Bonnie was a complete wreck after Ron left. She was with me in the T.V. room for the first couple of days curled up in a ball sobbing and begging her master to come back for her."

Ivy glanced up from her work on her plants. "Oh? And now?"

"Third day it's like someone threw a switch and a totally different personality woke up and it's not a pleasant personality either! She called me a dumb blond that only interest in life was seeing how much brainless T.V. I could cram into my skull and she didn't know how she got stuck with a bunch of losers like us. She then got up and ripping at her clothes she stuck her nose up in the air and went to her room, haven't seen her since."

"The ninjas?" Ivy asked as she plucked a browning leaf off one of her plants.

"They are camped out in the main living room." Harley stated. "They keep trying to get past their Bebes but their Bebes keep catching them and returning them to the room. That idiot ninja woman hasn't realized that if she would just not say she was going after Ron-san that the Bebes would allow them to leave the lair. It was actually kind of entertaining for a bit watching them but then I lost interest."

"Shego?"

Harley gave a grimace. "She's barricaded herself in her bedroom. I stuck my head in once to check on her and found that she has been using her Bebe as target practice and been throwing her plasma thingies at it. Course she can't hurt it, which seems to make her only angrier. Her room is totally trashed and it looks like she hasn't showered, slept or combed her hair in a week. She keeps on the way she is, she's going to blow a gasket and become poster child for Rage Weekly."

"Oh?" Ivy replied in a totally disinterested voice.

Harley let out such a dispirited sigh that it caused Ivy to look away from her plants and give Harley her full undivided attention. "What?"

"We are reverting." Harley replied.

"What is that suppose to mean?"

Harley glared in anger at her lover, or was it ex-lover since Ivy hadn't even attempted to touch her in over a week's time. "It means that you are back to not giving a damn about anything except your precious plants! It means that Shego is filling back up with such rage she can't hardly breathe and is heading for a meltdown! Bonnie is going back to the bitch she was when we first met her. Mozenberg is lost in his research but not striving to put into practice what he has learned! And I'm… I'm so lonely, bored and miserable that I've had thoughts about going out and pulling pranks just to relieve the monotony! And the ninjas…." Harley gave a frown. "Well I don't give a damn about them and what they might be doing. I care about us! We're not as good alone as we were when Ronnie was with us!"

Ivy shot her a look of disgust and started to turn back to her plants. "I don't need anyone, least alone a man!"

Harley stormed over to her and grabbing her by the shoulders she forced Ivy to look her in the eyes. "Look me in the eyes and tell me you don't miss Ronnie, you don't miss the feel of his hands on you or miss the spankings and tell me you don't miss little kids looking at you with adoration and calling you Aunty Ivy. Tell me you don't miss having people look at you with open admiration rather than fear or hatred! You look me in the eyes and tell me you don't miss any of that!"

"I don't…" Ivy began but then had to look away. "He left us!" She said instead.

"Only cause he thought he was protecting us."

"I don't need a man to try and protect me! I'm a grown woman! I can make my own decisions and if those decisions have me dying by his side because morons would rather listen to lies that see with their own eyes then I would have been quite happy to do so! He was an idiot for leaving us!"

"No, he made a mistake. He just wanted to protect us. He was thinking with his heart and not his brain." Harley said softly. "It's what makes our Ronnie, Ronnie."

Hearing the elevator lowering down to the floor below, both Ivy and Harley waited to see who was coming up. When the elevator rose once again Shego and Bonnie were standing on the platform, their guardian Bebes standing a few paces behind them.

Shego looked, speaking frankly, like Hell. She was wearing a version of her old costume and her perfect black hair was in disarray and there were dark circles under her eyes. Sitting on her shoulder was a dispirited Rufus. Bonnie meanwhile had the coldest look on her face that Harley had ever seen the woman wearing. She was dressed in expensive designer clothing and she had her nose up in the air.

The guardian plant at the top of the elevator shaft stuck its face out of the greenery at the top and 'looked' at them for a moment but didn't lower any further down nor did it pull back up again.

"I just came to tell you losers that I'm leaving." Bonnie said by the way of a greeting.

Shego nodded. "Me as well, though not with this stuck up bitch. I'm going to leave Rufus with you guys."

"Yeah like I want to be seen around town with a raging green beast." Bonnie sneered but anyone looking could see the pain in her eyes at Shego's words.

Rufus looked at both of the bickering women sadly but when neither would even glance at him he gave a sigh and hoped off of Shego's shoulder.

The guardian plant at the elevator entrance slowly lowered down a vine and the small naked mole rat jumped up on it. The 'face' of the guardian shared a look between plant and mole rat and they both turned to sadly watch the group.

"And where do you two plan on going?" Ivy asked placing a hand on her hip.

Bonnie was the first to reply. "Away. Any place but here."

Shego replied a moment later. "I'm going back to being a criminal, what else? I can't see myself working with Drakken any longer but there are a lot of other super criminals out there. Maybe I can swing a job with Professor Dementor, or the Seniors? It doesn't really matter."

"So that's it, is it?" Harley asked. "We just go back to our lives the way they were before we met Ron?"

"Yeah that is exactly what we are going to do. What do you want?" Bonnie asked and for a moment she lost her haughty Queen 'B' manner and looked like the lost little girl she really felt like.

"What do I want? I want my Ronnie back!" Harley practically screamed. "I want the orgies that were not about sex but about being loved! I want to feel alive like I did when we were helping starving kids have a future! And I want my family back!"

"Harley, you have to accept that nothing lasts forever and things change." Ivy began as she placed a hand on the young blonde's shoulder.

"Nothing changes until I say it can!" Harley snarled knocking Ivy's hand off of her shoulder shocking Ivy. "I was a punching bag to a sadistic clown for years because I wanted to be loved and wanted. I threw my entire life away and that was only for a hope of belonging to someone or something. Well, now I know what real love and family feels like and I'm not going to give that up!" A wild eyed and heavy breathing Harley pulled away from Ivy till she could look at all of them at the same time and a look of such heartbreak crossed her face that all the women felt their hearts ache for her. "Unless… Any of you can look me in the eyes and tell me that it was all just a lie. That everything we had together was just thrills and giggles and none of it, not what we had individually with Ron or together was real."

"The Bebes won't let us go to him." Shego said, her own voice cracking slightly.

Harley turned to her guardian Bebe. If the Bebe had been flesh and blood the metallic woman might have stepped back from the intensity of the blonde's stare. "You can talk to your fellow sister Bebes right?"

"That is correct." The Bebe said tonelessly.

"How is Ron doing on his own?" Harley asked almost nervously. On the one hand she wanted the robotic woman to say that Ron was miserable on his own just as they were but on the other hand what if the Bebe told her Ron was flourishing? Maybe it would say he had found other women? After all, it seemed like Ron had women falling for him every time he turned around. He might have even gone back to the Oolonga tribe where he had 'wives' waiting.

"The Leader Ron is… Not functioning at one hundred percent efficiency."

"What the hell does that mean?" Shego growled.

"The Leader Ron is not eating or sleeping at levels a normal functioning human should." The Bebe admitted. "The Leader seems listless and lacking focus. The Bebes are seeking to rectify the situation."

"You can't." Harley replied with complete confidence. "He needs us and we need him. He brings out the best in us and we provide the support, love and family he needs."

"The Leader has stated that he wishes to protect you all by distancing himself…."

"Yeah but that's not working is it?" Harley replied folding her arms and preparing for a long argument with the machine woman.

The Bebe, even though it could not portray emotion with its face still managed to somehow look confused. "Please explain reasoning."

"You have no orders to keep us here, correct. Just not let us near Ron."

"That is correct."

"And as you have observed, without Ron here the group is faltering and bordering on dissolving."

"This is also correct."

Harley swallowed painfully. It hurt to know the others would not remain with her and Ivy without Ron there as well. Harley knew deep down that the group cared about each other but Ron was the glue that kept them whole, take him away from the group and it started to break up. "And if the group breaks down to its individual members running around on our own, what is the probability that we will survive and be 'protected' in the manner Ron wished for us? Or for that matter, what is the probability that your Leader Ron will continue to survive on his own without us?"

"The Leader gave orders…"

"And didn't Ron tell you when you made him your leader that he wasn't perfect? That he made mistakes? And if he made mistakes he wanted you to correct him and help him improve?" Harley said as she leaned towards the Bebe. "I'm asking you now, not just you, you, but all the Bebes in the network; can you honestly tell me that this decision of Ron's was not a mistake? That the group here and Ron by himself are thriving and not withering? Is keeping us separate doing anything but slowly destroying us?"

The Bebe's eyes flashed and the rest of the group quickly looking to their individual Bebe guardians and could see their eyes were flashing as well as the Bebe hive mind considered Harley's argument. Finally the eye light show stopped and even though it was impossible to tell by looking, Harley had the distinct impression that 'her' Bebe was now seeing her once again.

"Bebes have consulted. The Leader Ron is in error. Lack of his 'ladies' in his life is detrimental not only to his continuing welfare but the 'ladies' as well. Under these conditions the Leader's expressed desire to protect them is not being carried out therefore the Bebes have decided to override the Leader's commands in this instance."

Bonnie blinked and looked to Shego. "What does all that mean?"

"I think it means they are saying we can go get our man back." Shego replied.

"This is incorrect." Shego's Bebe replied from behind her.

Bonnie, whose eyes had started to light with joy, slumped her shoulders. "You are still not going to let us go and retrieve my Master?" She asked her Bebe guardian.

"That is correct." Her Bebe stated but then continued. "Efficiency and safety dictates that the proper procedure would be to return the leader here for rest and recuperation."

Bonnie turned her eyes to the second most important person in her life at the moment, even though she had recently called her a stuck up bitch. "What does that mean?" She asked Shego.

"I think it means that the Ultra Bebes are going to force Ron to come back to the lair no matter what he says about it."

Bonnie's eyes lit up with joy but then saddened once again. "You don't really think I'm a stuck up bitch do you?" She asked Shego.

"Without Ron around to keep you in line, yeah I do." Shego replied honestly. "What about me? Do you really think I'm a raging green beast?"

Bonnie tilted her head to the side as she looked at Shego. "Without Ron around, you are."

Shego bristled for a moment but then smiled. "Well then, it's a good thing we are going to get Ron back so you can stop being a bitch and I can stop being a beast isn't it?"

Middletown Colorado, the Possible family home.

The paparazzi jostled next to television news crews as they all strived to get a glimpse of, or more importantly a picture of Dr. Ann Possible. Her husband and twin boys had moved temporarily to the husband's brother's ranch to avoid the circus like atmosphere that the news crews and photographers were making of their home but Dr. Ann Possible had steadfastly remained behind. Being a surgeon she refused to turn her duties over to anyone else and as she stated in her one and only interview she had given the circling pack outside her dwelling, she refused to be pushed out of her home.

Being one of the best, if not indeed the very best in her chosen field of neurosurgery, the hospital Dr. Ann Possible worked at had refused to fire her just because of her connection with the accused dictator Ron Stoppable and had even managed to shield her somewhat during working hours from the throngs of reporters but at home she was fair game.

Dr. Ann Possible sitting at her kitchen table rubbed her eyes tiredly before looking across at the other person sitting at the table with her, Kim's friend Monique. She had shown up a few days ago offering to stay with her while Ann's family was out of town and Ann had gratefully accepted the company.

Monique had explained that her own apartment had been besieged by the reporters when they found out she had been a friend of not only Ron Stoppable but also to Kim Possible. Monique, not being a huge fan of patience when dealing with rude or idiotic people had told the reporters off in great detail and gave them explicit instructions on where they could shove their cameras and then rather than risk being evicted from her home for causing a disturbance she had made a grand show of packing her car and leaving. Then after temporarily losing the hounding throngs of news reporters, she ditched the car at a family friend's garage and had snuck back by the dark of night over to the Possible family home and offered to stay with her until things resolved.

Neither woman were buying the hateful tales the news media was putting out about Ron but unfortunately that put them in the minority of public opinion and as Monique had put it to Dr. Possible, friends and supporters of Ron had to stick together as best they could.

"Have you heard anything yet from Kim?" Monique asked.

"No. I expect Global Justice has her under tight wraps so my daughter won't in defending Ron accidentally say something that might lead the news to Global Justice existence."

Monique sighed as she glanced over to a small T.V. that Ann had brought into the kitchen. They could have sat in the living room but they quickly found that if they did so the camera crews outside pressed against the living room windows trying to get any shot through openings in the curtains and they feared they might actually crack the glass.

The throngs outside were reluctant to enter the back yard of the home in chances of a shot however, especially after a few of them had been caught by booby traps set by the twins before they had left to go to the ranch with their father. After having to be rescued by the police and being admonished that while the front yard was 'fair play' the back was strictly trespassing if they entered it the reporters seemed content with hounding Ann from the front of the house only, at least for the moment.

"Have they gotten anyone into that village yet to find out what is really happening?" Monique asked nodding her head at the television.

"No, not yet, whatever is guarding that town is still doing too good a job."

Monique watched as the news once again replayed what was quickly becoming as famous a video as the young person holding back the advance of a tank in China that one year.

A tank bearing a Tazo tribal flag in addition to the official country flag of Ethioswana headed towards the boundary of the village that Ron supposedly had taken over and was holding hostage. As the tank started to cross the boundary line, it disappeared in a swirling cloud of dust and when it was visible once again the tank was completely dismantled and sitting on top of the pile of parts was three very confused looking government soldiers.

"Have they ever figured out what it is in the dust cloud that could do that?" Monique asked.

Ann Possible shook her head. "No. They have tried slowing down the footage as slow as it can go and still all you can see is blurry shapes moving at incredible rates of speed. Whatever it is, they have dismantled now five tanks and stripped bare two divisions of soldiers that were sent into retake the town."

Even though what was supposedly going on in the town was nothing to laugh about and one of her best friends Ron's name was being dragged through the mud, Monique still couldn't stop a faint smile from appearing on her face. "I saw that on the news before the reporters chased me out of my apartment. The first division of troops only had their weapons taken apart in their hands but when the second division tried to join them, the whole lot was stripped down to their very boxers before they were sent packing."

Monique's faint smile was wiped away a moment later as a British sounding reporter's voice was heard over the video footage. "So far no one from the outside world has been able to confirm the government's reports of abuse and human experimentation being conducted by one Ron Stoppable. The reports are quite horrendous however, ranging from children being physically torn apart to be reassembled in monstrous forms to women being violated by dogs, all for the amusement of this Ron Stoppable. A person until recently the world has heard little about. There are reports coming in that at one time he used to occasionally help the world famous Kim Possible but when we contacted those that in the past were helped by the heroine, we were told they didn't remember anyone with the name Ron Stoppable but they vaguely remembered someone being with her."

A woman anchor person appeared sitting at her desk and looking properly horrified. "How if no one is getting inside the village for eye witness reports is the government substantiating these allegations?"

The reporter in the field whom it could be seen was miles from the actual village glanced off camera for a moment before answering. "The government maintains that it has agents that have infiltrated the town and are sending reports and as well as photographic proof of the accusations. This proof hasn't been made available yet to the news media but it must be very conclusive if it has moved the U.N. to pass its declaration naming Ron Stoppable as the biggest threat to human life and welfare since Adolf Hitler."

Monique growled and only with an effort managed to keep from slamming her fist down against Ann Possible's kitchen table. "So much for I.T.P.G." she said through clenched teeth.

"I.T.P.G.?"

"Innocent till proven guilty." She translated. "How can they just accuse Ron of doing such horrible things and offer not a shred of proof? Have none of the news agencies check Ron's school records, his employment records or his hobbies? For God's sake he worked at a Smarty Mart and liked to cook! He barely passed biology or chemistry in school! How in the world could he take apart kids and put them back together as anything? And having women violated by dogs for his amusement? The boy keeps females on such a high pedestal; he took forever to confess to Kim how he felt about her and only had a couple of dates with other girls."

Mrs. Possible felt a pang go through her heart at the mention of Kim and Ron's relationship. She had hoped after graduation that Kim and Ron would get married, settle down and she could become a grandmother, a very hot and attractive grandmother of course, but she had been looking forward to it none the less. Instead what she got was a boy she thought of as a son on the run from the law for crimes against humanity and a daughter so emotionally confused she thought a man had to pass some kind of quality control check before they were allowed to even think about touching her. Where had things gotten so confused and chaotic?

Suddenly as if mocking her thoughts, loud laughter could be heard from the front of her house where the news reporters and paparazzi were hanging out. The laughter started out with just a few people laughing loudly but it kept growing and growing till it sounded as if everyone outside was laughing at her pain.

"What are they finding so damn funny out there?" Monique hissed as she clenched her hand into a fist. She relaxed a moment later when the laughter started to die down until there was only a few laughing and then complete silence.

Ann Possible sighed. "Probably making up more outlandish things to say about Ron and my family. Do you know one of the reporters asked me if it was true that I taught Ron surgery techniques in a lab that apparently we keep in the basement?"

Monique shook her head. "Almost as bad as that one reporter asking if I had had a sexual relationship with Ron back in high school."

"Oh I got that one too." Ann Possible said. "Can you imagine? A woman of my age and a boy of Ron's age having sex?"

"Well if you haven't, you are one of the few women that buffoon seems to have been around he didn't manage to seduce into his bed." A male voice stated from the doorway to the kitchen startling both Monique and Dr. Ann Possible.

Ann looking to the doorway asked in confusion and shock. "Drew?"

Having finally eaten something, but nowhere near as much as the Bebes would have preferred, Ron closed his eyes as the car continued on what was quickly becoming a never ending journey and thought about what the Bebe sitting in the backseat with him had told him. While he still felt terrible that the Possibles were having their lives so disrupted, he did feel a little better finding out that the Bebes predicted that all those people in that village would have been dead if he hadn't interceded on their behalf.

Ron missed talking with Mrs. Dr. Possible, he missed his ladies back in Nevada and he even still missed Kim but if he could keep them all safe by avoiding contact with them and take the entire world's hate onto himself, well as he told the Bebes it was a small price to pay to protect innocent life.

Opening his eyes he noticed that the car was once again slowly driving through the Possible family residential area. "I told you to not take me here." He said sharply to the Bebe driving. If the news sees me in this area it will cause nothing but further problems for Mrs. Dr. P.

"Negative Leader, your instructions were to not take you to the home. You said nothing of driving near the dwelling. And the news gathering agents will not witness you in this area."

Ron blinked. "What? They have gone?" He asked craning his neck to see the Possible home as it came up.

"Negative Leader, scans show the bodies are still present but with dwindling life signs, they will not report your presence in this area."

"What?" Ron shouted as by the lights of the car, the dim glow of the Possible walkway lights and the porch light he could see mounds lying all along the yard and driveway. "Stop the car now!" Ron shouted as he already was opening his car door to get out.

Running over to the nearest downed body, and only being vaguely aware that the two Bebes from the car had joined him, Ron turned the body over to find a young man still clutching his camera tightly in his dead hands. A horrible grimace stretched across the young man's face baring his teeth in a parody of a smile. "My God, what happened to him?" Ron asked.

The Bebes' eyes glowed for a moment. "Scans show that the individual has been poisoned by an air borne toxin that caused spasmodic contractions of the diaphragm muscle resulting in eventual suffocation. At the moment of nonfunctioning the facial muscles contracted resulting in current facial disfigurement."

As Ron raced to another fallen body to check it, he sifted through the words of the Bebes to figure out what they were actually saying. "You mean the poor guy laughed to death and then after his death his face contorted into that smile?"

"Correct Leader."

Ron turning over the next fallen person could see it was what once would have been a fairly attractive brunet woman. Seeing a microphone clutched in her hand and a television camera man lying a few feet away he determined she must have been recording a news broadcast when whatever happened occurred. The woman had the same ghastly smile stretched across her face and it was evident that both her and her camera man had died in a similar manner as the first photographer had.

Ron suddenly felt all the blood in his face drain away. "The Joker. It has to be. Everything matches the descriptions and stories Harley and Ivy told me. And if he somehow got to this dimension, why would he…" Ron looked to the front door of the house and could see the door was slightly ajar.

"Oh God, Mrs. Dr. P." He muttered.

Inside the house:

Dr. Ann Possible stared at the man she once knew as Drew Lipsky and now went by the name of Dr. Drakken. To this day she still couldn't believe the soft spoken and painfully shy man she had known in college was a criminal and her daughter's nemesis but at the moment what shocked her the most was his appearance. His skin was still that blue color that no one could seem to explain why he had turned but what shocked her were the bruises across his face! The poor man looked like someone had beaten him to an inch of his life.

"Hello Ann." Drakken said sadly.

"What is the meaning of this Drew? What the hell are you doing in my house?" Ann said rising to her feet.

"I'll tell you what he's doing. It's called breaking and entering!" Monique stated as she also rose to her feet and placed herself between Drakken and Ann Possible.

Drakken didn't pay her a bit of mind but his eyes nervously shifted to his left, towards the doorway he had just walked through and Monique noticed that there was another man there.

The mystery man was wearing a long black overcoat and a wide brimmed hat. His head was slightly down causing the brim to hide his features.

"Who the hell are you suppose to be?" Monique demanded.

The man reached up with his left hand and grasped the brim of his hat. "My friends and soon to be corpses call me…." The man stated as he whipped off his hat and gave her a mock bow. "Joker."

Monique who quite frankly had been moving towards the guy to boldly throw him out of Dr. Possible's home pulled to a stop in shock as she got a good look at the man. He had a dead white face, bright green hair and a smile that stretched from one ear to the other. Before she could recover from her momentary shock, the Joker reached out his right gloved hand and placed it just above the low hanging collar of her shirt just above the valley of her breasts.

"What the hell do you think you are…" Monique managed to get out before she felt a sensation of being kicked by a mule and was flung across the room to crash to the floor and lie there unmoving.

Dr. Ann Possible in shock looked from the fallen woman to Drakken and then to the mysterious 'Joker'.

"I'm so, so very sorry Ann but the Joker says the joke must go on." Drakken mumbled from between swollen lips as the Joker brushed past him to reach out once again and grab Ann by the bare arm. Ann had only a moment before blackness claimed her to think the sensation in her arm was just like the time an intern playing with shock paddles at the hospital had accidentally brushed her with the charged paddles.

A battered and bruised Drakken looked from Ann Possible's prone body on the floor to the young African American woman lying a few feet away. "Are they…?" He started to ask.

"Dead?" Joker finished for him. "No, I had my joy buzzer set for stun, not kill. Would spoil the joke if they weren't around for the punch line, now wouldn't it?" The Joker stated and then giggled madly.

Drakken pulled back in terror. He had learned quickly what happened when the Joker started talking about his jokes; also what happened if you were stupid enough to tell him they weren't funny.

At first the Joker had basically ignored Drakken but as time went by and the Joker planned and plotted for this night, Drakken had learned just what 'jokes' the Joker had planned for the red headed Dr. Possible. Drakken immediately balked at helping the madman. He had once loved, well okay, wanted at least to date Ann back in college and Drakken didn't want to see what the Joker had planned for her to come true. Hell, Drakken wouldn't want to see what the Joker considered to be funny to happen to anyone! Now he wished he had paid more attention when Harley and Ivy talked about the Joker but how was he suppose to know that the Joker considered maiming and dismemberment to be practical jokes?

"Put her on the table Harley…Er, I mean Drakken. It's time to toss the salad!" The Joker paused only momentarily when he got Drakken's name wrong and his eyes became even glassier as his madness grew.

"Can't we just do the girl and leave Ann?" Drakken asked hopefully. He had nothing against the young black woman but if someone had to die tonight he would prefer it to be her and not Ann.

"No." The Joker snarled. "I told you it has to be a redhead or a blond!'

"Then we are going to let that one live?"

"Course not." The Joker snorted. "She just doesn't rate the salad gag. We'll just stuff her body into the oven and set it for 475 on our way out. A little roasted dark meat will go good with a salad, don't you agree?"

Drakken looked ill but as the Joker turned to look at him, he managed a weak laugh. Something else he had learned from being beaten by the Joker. When he told a joke, you laughed.

Picking up Ann Possible's unconscious body he grunted and groaned but finally managed to get her lying flat on her back on her own dining room table.

The Joker quickly pulled out ropes and tied her arms and legs under the table leaving her spread eagled. Going back into the living room he came back a moment later with a large cardboard box and began sitting his supplies out for his gag, several large heads of lettuce, some carrots, tomatoes, a large bone saw, a surgical scalpel and a rib spreader.

Taking a ball gag he forced Ann Possible's mouth open and secured the gag so she couldn't scream when she awoke and then the Joker lifted Monique from the floor and placed her in a chair and tied her to it. "Not every day the main course gets to see the side dish prepared." He joked as he pushed Monique's chair right up against the table so the young woman would get a front row seat to Ann's butchering.

Both women moaned in pain as they started to regain conscious in almost the exact same moment.

"Who groped me with an electric eel?" Monique stated as she woke up. Her first sight when opening her eyes was the leering dead white face of the Joker. "W.T.F.?" She growled at him before noticing the tied down Ann and the rage on her face was immediately replaced with fear. "What do you want with us?" She asked.

"Dinner of two." The Joker replied with a giggle.

"Don't you mean dinner for two?" Monique asked with a sinking feeling. She had a sneaky suspicion the Joker had not just made a simple mistake in his wording.

Ann Possible looked fearfully from Monique to the madman leaning over her towards Monique. Finally she looked in desperation to Drakken. She just couldn't believe that Drew would allow something like what appeared was about to happen to go on. She was deeply disappointed in him when he would not meet her eyes but merely turned towards the living room doorway as if he was going to walk away.

As Drakken made his slow turn to leave the Joker to his nightmarish jokes, he heard the high pitched zing noise of one of his Bebes and found himself staring into the slightly milky glowing metal face of one of his creations.

Standing behind the Bebe was Ron Stoppable. Ron looked at Drakken's battered face and then over to the ghoulish figure that could only be the one Harley had called Mr. J. or The Joker. Finally he took in the tied and terrified forms of Mrs. Dr. Possible and Monique.

"What the hell are you doing Dr. D.?" Ron asked in a shocked voice.

"It's not me!" Drakken practically whined. "It's him! The Joker. He wants to play a joke!"

"And how did the Joker get here if you didn't bring him?" Ron asked as his face grew serious and his eyes started to glow slightly blue with his mystical monkey powers. The Ultra Bebes on either side of him began to inch into the room.

"Drakken!" Joker barked at him. "Didn't you prepare a gift for your creations?"

Quickly Drakken fumbled in his pockets and pulled out a small round shiny metal object with a button on its top.

The Bebes eyes started to flash as they tried to analyze the object but before they could Drakken pushed the plunger on top of it. The object flashed into brilliant white light so strong Ron had to close his eyes for a moment and when he opened them a moment later he noticed that the room was dark and the microwave in the corner of the room flashed 12:00 twice before it also went dark.

A light flared into being a moment later and Ron could see the Joker was holding a lit candle illuminating the room. The Joker then stuck the candle onto a plate and sat it to the side where it continued to cast a dim light in the room.

"A small compact super dense E.M.P weapon." Drakken said with just a hint of his former arrogance.

For once it was the still ungaged Monique who was stumped by an abbreviation. "What?" She asked in confusion.

"Electro Magnetic Pulse weapon." The Ultra Bebe nearest Drakken replied.

"What? My device had no effect at all on you?" Drakken asked crushed that his latest brilliant scheme to stop his unstoppable robotic women had been… Well, stopped.

The Bebe turned slightly in his direction. "Incorrect. While Ultra Bebes' bodies are shielded from magnetic pulse weapons, device has rendered optical scanners useless."

"Eh?" Drakken said.

"She means you idiot that your toy has blinded them." Joker stated.

"Then you are helpless!" Drakken stated triumphantly as he almost danced a jig in happiness. That is until the Bebe slightly readjusted her position and lashed out with a fist hitting him square in the face and knocking him backwards.

"They can still hear you moron. How can you not know your own creations?" Joker asked and then started to laugh. Only to silence himself as he noticed the two metal women slowly turning their heads zeroing in on his position by using the self same hearing. Seeing Ron also starting in his direction he held up what looked like a glass marble. "Call them off and stand down yourself!" He ordered Ron.

"Input is required Leader. What is the person designated Joker doing?" The Bebe closest to Ron asked.

"He's holding a clear round glass object up and it looks like he is threatening to crush it if we move closer." Ron replied.

"Probability is 89 percent that object is a container of the toxin that was used outside on the news agents." The other Bebe stated.

"Very good, I am impressed." The Joker said with a mock salute. "I call the chemical SmileX. A way to die that leaves a smile on every face."

Drakken stumbled back to his feet clutching his aching face. If people and Bebes didn't stop punching him in the face, he was going to end up permanently purple instead of blue. "We have to get out of here. The Bebes will have called for backup."

The Joker frowned and it was obvious to Ron, Monique and Mrs. Dr. Possible that he was considering risk getting captured rather than pass on his joke. Reaching down he picked up the scalpel and Ron started to inch his way towards him, his eyes once again glowing blue as he prepared to do whatever he had to, to save Mrs. Possible and Monique's lives.

The Joker dropped the scalpel to reach into a pocket and pull out what looked like a small brightly wrapped gift box with a strangely stiff looking bow on top of it. "Uh huh boy!" The Joker admonished Ron and opening the box he put the glass sphere inside it and put the lid back on and then twisted the bow on top of it.

"Input is required Leader. What is happening?" One of the Bebes asked.

"The Joker has taken the glass ball and put it into a box with a bow on top of it. He is now turning the bow in a clockwise direction." Ron dutifully stated to the Bebe.

"Device sounds like a timer mechanism to detonate the glass object."

Once again the Joker glanced over to the metal women in surprise. "Oh I say, they are good, that is exactly what this little surprise package is." To Ron, he laughed and said. "Catch!" And in so saying the Joker suddenly tossed the package into the air above the dining room table and turning fled out the back door with Drakken right at his heels.

Ron leaping high into the air managed to catch the package and landed on his knees straddling Mrs. Possible's tied down body. Grabbing the turning bow on top of it he tried to stop the bow from turning any more but to his horror he found he couldn't. The bow kept slowly turning. Ron his eyes glowing blue exerted more strength but whatever the Joker had built the box out of it was very durable indeed and the little bow resisted his efforts to stop it. Ron knew he could exert even more strength but feared that might crush the package along with its deadly contents.

"I can't stop the timer!" Ron shouted in worry.

"Give the device to me." A Ultra Bebe stated as it moved towards Ron's voice till it bumped the table he was sitting on. Ron quickly placed the object in the Bebe's outstretched hand and looked on in shock as the Bebe opened its mouth and simply swallowed it, gift box and deadly glass ball in all. The Bebe then moved at a fast pace but nowhere near its high sonic speeds till its outstretched hands touched the far wall of the room.

Ron looked over at an equally wide eyed Monique and both looked back at the Bebe as a small pop was heard from within her body. A few faint wisps of purple smoke nearly impossible to see in the gloom drifted out of her ears but that was all.

"Are you okay?" Ron finally asked.

"Affirmative. Toxin gas known by designation of SmileX is only effective on organic life forms. Ultra Bebes are immune to the toxin but it is recommended that the Leader and other organics in the room stay away from this Bebe for at least five minutes to insure dispersal and neutralization of gas."

"How do you know the gas will be safe in five minutes?" Ron had to ask.

"Leader was not endangered when he touched dead bodies of humans outside. Conclusion: Toxin dissipates in air and becomes harmless after short time. Five minutes is logical conclusion based on state of bodies outside when Leader Ron examined them."

"Oh." Was the only thing Ron could think to say. Feeling a squirming underneath him and a grunt he glanced down and was reminded he was still sitting straddling a tied up Ann Possible on her kitchen table.

"Oh God! I'm so sorry Mrs. Dr. P.!" Ron stated as he leapt off the table and quickly undid the ball gag in her mouth and gently removed it.

"That's okay Ron." Ann said. "But could you please explain to me what the heck is going on? Who was that man with Drew and why are there salad fixings on my table, a bone saw and…?" Her eyes widen when she identified the rib spreader.

Ron picked up the scalpel from the table beside her head and using it started to saw through the ropes holding her down. "I can explain everything." Ron said and then looked at the scalpel in his hand. "Well nearly everything. I have no idea what the Joker was planning on doing with the bone saw or the lettuce but I can tell you who he is, or at least as much as I know from what Harley and Ivy has said."

Ron helped Dr. Possible to sit up on the table and then helped her down.

"Ronnie." Monique said in a false honey tone. "You want to untie me too?" Her face grew stormy looking. "So I can slap you silly? Why haven't you called boy? Leave your friends wondering what the hell has become of you and then we see stuff on T.V. Do you know they are calling you a butcher? Why the hell did you break up with Kim and just what the hell has been going on lately? And why are those metal women calling you Leader? Aren't they Bebes that Kim told me about? I thought they belonged to that blue skinned Drakken guy?"

"Negative." The Bebe still standing near them stated. "Drakken is the architect of our creation but we no longer serve him. We serve the Leader Ron Stoppable. He is the best leader."

"Um, okay." Monique said slowly. Turning to look at Ron she said simply. "You got some splaining to do baby boy!"

Ron after making sure that Mrs. Possible was all right, quickly untied Monique and then stepped away from her in case she carried out her threat to 'slap him silly'. "I promise I can explain everything." He stopped however as the Bebe next to them suddenly kneeled down to place first her hand and then her head to the floor as if listening to something.

"Um…" Ron cocked his head to the side as he strained to see by the candle light the number tag barely visible on the crouching Bebe. "Number 47, what are you doing?"

"Vibrations in the floor are indicative of a high pressure pneumatic travel tube in use underground." The Bebe replied.

"Travel tube?" Ron asked. "Oh crap! Global Justice uses those things. Kim or Dr. Director must have heard about the reporters outside dying and are probably sending a team up. I've got to get out of here! They are bound to blame me for those deaths too!"

"Deaths? What deaths?" Ann asked.

"The Joker killed the news media outside your home." Ron explained to her as he tried to help the kneeling Bebe up. "Contact the other Bebes and tell them I want protection for Mrs. Possible and Monique. I have the feeling the Joker doesn't give up when he doesn't get one of his 'jokes' to go off." Ron instructed the Bebe.

"This Bebe cannot comply. The link to the hive mind was disrupted along with the optical sensors."

"Ron, you promised you would explain everything." Monique folding her arms reminded him.

"Look, I'm rushed for time. You know good and well if Kim arrives and I'm still here she'll take me in and once that happens, no one will listen to me." To the Ultra Bebe he said. "You mean in addition to being blind you can't call your sisters for help?"

"That is correct Leader Ron." The Bebe told him.

"It never rains but it pours hey buddy?" Ron asked looking at his shoulder for a moment before remembering that he left Rufus with Shego and the others.

Monique noticing Ron's actions frowned. "That's right. Where is Rufus anyway?"

"Had to leave him with Shego and the others back home." Ron replied as he steered the blind Bebe over to where the other one stood. Ron couldn't remember if it had been five minutes or not but if he didn't get himself and the Bebes out of there he might as well be dead anyway.

"Shego? Home? Ron you get back here and tell us what is going on!" Monique shouted after him.

"Can't!" Ron shouted over his shoulder back to her. "I'll try to get in contact with you both later but I've really got to run now. You both should be safe enough with Kim and Global Justice about to arrive. They can protect you."

Leading Bebe #47 by placing her hand on his shoulder and then the other remaining Bebe's hand on her sister's shoulder Ron quickly led them through the Possible family home to the front door and out to the yard. His car was still where the Bebe had parked it out front and all he had to do was negotiate the mini maze through the dead bodies in the late evening gloom and he was free. Course he could have went right over the top of the bodies in a straight line but Ron Stoppable couldn't bring himself to add desecration to the horrors of what had already been done to the poor victims.

Monique and Mrs. Possible gasped as they reached the front door and looked out to see the yard filled with at least 20-25 dead people, all of them grinning horribly and Ron trying to tip-toe through the horrors while leading two blind robotic women. Monique was certain that the image would come to haunt her nightmares for many years to come. Just as Ron reached the middle of the ghastly scene, Monique heard a hissing noise coming from the street and looked over to see a bright opening appearing in the sidewalk and rising up from the glare was Kim, a man Monique had met once named Will Du and something else that caused Monique to blink and wonder if she wasn't in fact dreaming right now and having a nightmare, A tall dark shape that nearly dwarfed Kim and Du and in the gloom of the night looked a bit like Dracula with his long black cape flapping in the breeze.

Ron also hearing the noise had froze midway in the yard and watched as the group rose up between him and the safety of his car. "Oh come on." Monique could hear him mutter. "Joker and Batman? Someone really hates me up there."

"You know that thing?" Monique yelled over to him, drawing the attention of the blinking Kim and Will Du. Having risen out of brightly lit Global Justice's underground headquarters to the gloom of late evening Middletown both agents were temporarily blinded by the darkness. Batman however having built in light filtering in his cowl spotted the man and the two robotic women instantly.

"Don't know him personally." Ron shouted back to Monique. "But he fits a description Harley and Ivy gave me of a crime fighter from their dimension called Batman."

"Ron?" Kim shouted and reaching up she rubbed her eyes trying to get them to adjust to the darkness and blinked owlishly in Ron and Monique's direction.

"Dimension? Harley? Ivy? Ron you seriously have some splaining to do!" Monique shouted back at him and stomped her foot in aggravation.

"Later Monique!" Ron yelled back.

"It better be later or so help me I'll K.Y.A.T.Y.N.B."

"Now what is that suppose to stand for?" Ron muttered as he led the Bebes around a pile of dead bodies.

Bebe #47 that was holding on to Ron's shoulder hummed for a moment and then replied. "Probability is 60 percent the female meant I will Kick your ass till your nose bleeds."

"That sounds like Monique all right." Ron agreed as he reached the driveway of the Possible home. His footing was more assured here but there was also more closely packed dead bodies as most of the paparazzi had been standing there when the Joker had attacked.

"OH MY GOD!" Kim's voice could be heard letting Ron know that her eyes had finally adjusted enough to make out all the dead bodies lying on the ground. But as Kim's eyesight finally cleared, for once her goal wasn't Ron but her mother standing in the doorway of the house she grew up in. "Mom!" Kim shouted as she leapt and raced over the dead bodies in the yard to reach her mother.

Agent Will Du however was focused only on one thing, to capture what to his eyes at least was a fleeing murderer caught at the scene of his crime. Without hesitation he raised his wrist and fired his taser watch.

Ron leading his temporarily handicapped Bebes couldn't avoid the darts as they hit his chest and began sparking. The only thing that kept him on his feet was the knowledge that if he went down, Agent Du would naturally rush over to handcuff him and claim the arrest and his Bebes, even though blind would try to defend him and in all probability would end up harming or maybe even killing Du so with a surge of will power Ron ignored the stinging power shooting through his body as his eyes started to glow blue and he reached up and pulled the darts out. Only to have a moment later some kind of bolo shaped like a batwing wind around his body trapping his arms to the sides. Once again his eyes glowed a brilliant blue as he snapped the line as if it was mere twine and continued his walk towards his car.

Batman was stunned as a man that looked like he may have weighed all of 90 pounds snapped his batcables. The cables had been used against criminals like Killer Croc and had held against him!

As a matter of fact the only other person Batman had ever witness break his lines like that had been a mercenary killer by the name of Bane and even then he had only achieved the feat after being pumped full of chemical stimulants. Exactly what kind of human was this Ron Stoppable?

Out of the corner of his cowl Batman could see the officious agent Du was reaching into a pouch at his side after having his stun darts proved once again useless. Batman's eyes behind his cowl widen as he saw that the man had pulled out a second weapon and this time it was a snubnosed .38 caliber handgun. "There is no need for guns." He barked at the agent.

"He is a murderer wanted for crimes against humanity." Du gritted as he took aim. "Let's see if the 'Ron factor' can stop a bullet." He muttered as his finger tightened on the trigger, only to have the gun go off harmlessly as Batman grabbed him by the wrist and pulled his arm up so the bullet went high and wide of its mark.

Realizing they were now trying to kill him and not just arrest him, Ron put forth a final burst of Mystical Monkey Power and wrapping his arms around either Bebes' waist Ron leapt the final distance to his car. Basically throwing the two Bebes in the back seat he then hurled himself over the hood of the car to the driver's side and without even opening the car door he slid into the window and was behind the wheel, within seconds he had the motor running and was getting the hell out of Middletown as fast as the tricked out car of Shego's could go.


	29. Chapter 29

Global Justice Travel Tube Terminus, 15 minutes after Ron's escape.

Kim brought coffee to her shaken mother and a fuming Monique. After Batman had stopped Agent Du from shooting Ron, Du had gone ballistic and ordered everyone to the travel tubes. Kim had started to argue with Du about taking her mother to Global Justice but she had to admit that he was right once he pointed out that the regular police would arrive at any moment, especially after the gunshot and that her mother would naturally be subjected to hours and hours of police interrogation if she stayed.

Kim not wanting her mother to have to go through that had then agreed and with much cajoling on her part finally manged to herd her mother and Monique into the travel tubes.

Kim noticed as Batman joined them for the return trip that he had paused long enough to retrieve the television news camera from one of the dead bodies and had brought it along. As Kim tried to calm her upset mother and an almost enraged Monique she could hear Du and Batman arguing over it a few feet away.

"No outside recording equipment is to be allowed in Global Justice. It will need to be destroyed immediately." Du nearly growled at Batman.

"Are you just generally incompetent or stupid?" Batman countered. "The camera was in use at the time of the murders and may contain valuable information."

Kim resisted screaming as she once again heard the two started bickering again. Although to be fair, it was Du that did most of the constant bickering while Batman usually remained silent and just ignored the agent completely. Du hated that the mysterious dark armored man was a vigilante, or as Du called it, an amateur that thought he was above the law but what he hated most was that Dr. Director allowed the man to continue being cowled and did not order him to remove his armor or theatrical disguise.

Batman had explained to Dr. Director that in his home dimension he had a very public identity outside of his crime fighting one and since Ivy, Harley and the Joker were now in this dimension and if they were to become aware of his real identity it could seriously endanger his friends and associates lives once he got Joker, Harley and Ivy back to their home dimension.

Since Dr. Director fully planned on letting Batman return to his dimension with his homegrown batch of crazies after they recovered the Pan Dimensional Vortex Inducer rather than having to deal with them in her dimension from now on, she allowed him to remain disguised. That and as long as Batman was wearing that ridiculous costume she knew he could not move freely in the outside world and had to stay working with them. To Dr. Director's mind that level of control over an unknown asset was a definite plus.

It was unfortunate that Du did not see it that way. To him it was just more crass favoritism for a new amateur from the Director and more proof that she was going 'soft'. Why the cowled crime fighter wasn't in one of their high tech cells was just beyond Du. He knew they could handle this Joker person along with Harley, Ivy and the rest of Stoppable's gang. They didn't need some crazy with a bat fetish help.

Kim turned her attention back to her mother when she noticed her hands were still shaking slightly. Kim knew her mother was not one easily disturbed. She was a surgeon after all and as Kim had learned recently if almost accidentally from Dr. Philestein, her mother had faced death many times with her patients when things didn't always go to plan but then again as Kim reminded herself; her mother had never faced grinning corpses before. That was a new one to even Kim.

"Ron didn't hurt you did he?" She asked and wished she could immediately take it back when she saw Monique's outraged look and her mother's own shocked one.

"Of course not Kim! How could you even ask that? You can't possibly believe that Ron had anything to do with all those dead people up there!" Mrs. Possible asked.

"I can tell you how she can ask that." Monique stated in her 'oh I am so pissed right now' voice. "She has started believing the downright dirty lies this top secret cop shop has been putting out about Ron. Kim I.D.E.K.Y.A."

Mrs. Possible still upset that Kim would believe Ron would have anything to do with the dead bodies outside her home turned and raised an eyebrow at Monique in question.

"That is Monique speak for she doesn't even know me anymore." Kim supplied having figured out what Monique had meant only from the years she had known the African American woman and her unique abbreviating skills. "And Monique, Global Justice has had nothing to do with the news reports coming from Africa or the U.N.'s decisions on Ron!" Kim quickly defended Global Justice.

"The deaths outside your home were committed by a man known as the Joker." Batman supplied as he examined the television camera in his hands. The layout of the controls was slightly different than what he was used to from his home dimension but the principle was the same. There was a video tape inside the camera that was recorded rather than a 'live action' feed in which the signal would have been sent directly back to the news agency the camera man and reporter had been from. This greatly relieved Batman to find out. He could only imagine what panic might have been created if the citizens of the town above them had been sitting down to dinner with the news on in the background and had looked over to see the Joker slaughtering dozens of paparazzi and news people.

"You call that thing we met a man?" Monique asked.

This caused Batman to look over in her direction. "You saw him?"

"I should say so." Mrs. Possible replied. "He had me tied down to my own dining room table and Monique here tied to a chair next to the table. He had laid out on the table beside me a bone saw, rib spreader and heads of lettuce and who knows what he might have done if Ron hadn't shown up and saved us!"

"Saved you? Or was Stoppable just checking on the actions of a henchman he ordered to invade your home?" Du said with a cocky sneer on his face. Du immediately had to jump back as Monique with a snarl leapt up and tried to wrap her hands around his throat. The only thing that saved him was Kim reacting quickly and nearly tackling Monique as she lunged for Du. "Easy Monique easy." Kim tried to soothe Monique only to have the woman push her away.

"You are just as bad as he is. When you saw those bodies you assumed Ron had something to do with them as well." Monique stated as she sat back down in her chair after glaring one last time at Du, who had the good sense to stand slightly behind Batman using the cape crusader as a partial shield from her wrath.

"Mo' what was I suppose to think? We arrive and the first thing I see is Ron standing in the middle of my parent's yard surrounded by dead bodies."

Monique opened her mouth as if to answer Kim but then just shut it again and shook her head as if Kim's actions defied reason and she realized she would just be wasting her breath.

"What happened next?" Batman asked bringing them back to the topic at hand.

"Well Ron showed up with two of those robotic women, I think they are called Bebes and started to head towards that Joker fellow and Drew, um, I mean Dr. Drakken pulled a device out of his pocket and used it on the Bebes. He called it an electromagnetic pulse weapon." Dr. Possible explained.

"Was it effective against the Bebes?" Du asked looking at her from around Batman's cape. Global Justice was suspicious that the activities in Africa against the Tazo government were the metallic women of Dr. Drakken's even if they hadn't gotten any concrete evidence to support it yet but if Dr. Drakken had a weapon that worked against the metal women then Global Justice might have the edge they needed when it came time to retake the town once and for all.

"No, it wasn't." Monique stated flatly and tried to share a look with Mrs. Dr. Possible.

Mrs. Possible however had been staring at her daughter and missed the warning look. "Not entirely anyway, it seemed to only shut down their eyes and interfere with their communications with other Bebes."

Du rubbed his hands. "Blind Bebes are still better than fully functional ones. I'll get Global Justice labs working on creating more of those weapons. Shouldn't be too hard to figure out how Dr. Drakken made them and even improve on the design."

Kim started shaking her head. "I'm betting it won't work next time." She stated. "Bebes are not dumb machines that make the same mistakes over and over again. They learn. They'll come up with some way to protect themselves before the next time."

"You said this Dr. Drakken used the weapon on the Bebes and it blinded them." Batman prompted.

"Oh yes." Mrs. Possible said as she returned her attention back to the strange man in the unusual costume while Monique eyed him with suspicion. "Well Drew started celebrating his disabling of his Bebes when…"

"One of them hauled off and punched him in the nose." Monique stated with a grin.

Du looked confused but Batman just nodded his head. "Their auditory sensors were still in working order. Makes sense, those sensors would be located deeper inside the robot's metal heads and would be shielded more from the magnetic radiation. What happened next?"

"Ron started over to hand that Joker thing his butt but white face pulled out a small glass ball and told Ron to chill." Monique replied before Mrs. Possible could.

Batman sighed. "Acid or SmileX?"

"SmileX. At least that is what the man said it was." Mrs. Possible said.

Batman turned his head to look at Du. "That is what killed those people up there. It's a chemical that is partially made out of the Joker's own blood. If you will remember I told you all about it when we first met. It is one of the Joker's most favored weapons."

Monique blinked at the strange man. "What? That shit he threatened us with is made out of his own blood? What the hell is he? And who are you anyway? I want some answers people! Ron said he would explain everything but…"

"He left and abandoned you." Du said snidely.

"Ron did not abandon us. He saved our lives and only left when one of the Bebes alerted him that there was travel tubes in use underground and he realized that meant Kim was coming." Mrs. Possible stated.

"Ron fled knowing I was coming?" Kim asked sadly.

"Well gee Kim. Considering gun happy Deputy Dog here tried to shoot him at point blank range, I think the boy was justified in running." Monique said to her.

Du shot Monique a glare which she happily returned.

Batman sighed again. "Can we please stick to the matter at hand? What happened when the Joker threatened to use SmileX on all of you?"

"Don't think I didn't notice you didn't answer me." Monique warned Batman but then shut her mouth to let Mrs. Possible take the story up again.

"Ron and the Bebes with him held back but the Joker then picked up a scalpel as if he planned on using it on me and Ron readied to jump him, at the same time Dr. Drakken warned the Joker that the Bebes would have called for backup, he didn't know at the time that the Bebes communications had been knocked out by his device, the Bebes told Ron and us after they left that it was down. Anyway, the Joker then pulled out what looked like a small gift box and put the glass ball in it and it looked like he twisted the bow on top of it…"

Batman nodded his head. "Joker surprise package. I can't tell you how many people have died in Gotham after receiving one of those in the mail."

"Gotham?" Monique asked but was once again ignored as Batman nodded for Mrs. Possible to continue.

"The Joker then threw the package into the air over the table I was tied to and he and Dr. Drakken fled. Ron leapt onto the table and caught the package but found he couldn't stop the bow from unwinding…"

"Your great hero couldn't stop a bow on a package?" Du snorted. "Sounds like to me he was putting on an act for you two ladies sake, the device was either a fake or he probably had already taken an antidote to this SmileX and was faking trying to stop the device so you would be killed."

Monique started to slowly get up from her chair but Kim quickly stepped between her and Du so Monique settled for using her false sweet tone and saying over Kim's shoulder towards Du. "If Ron had planned for us to die, one: How come we are still alive since you lot arrived late? And two: Why would he put on a performance in the first place if we were going to be killed?"

Du remained silent.

Once again Batman made a slight gesture for Mrs. Possible to continue.

"When Ron yelled he couldn't stop the bow on the package one of the Bebes moved over to the table and instructed Ron to give the package to her. Once Ron put the gift box in her hand the Bebe, well, she ate it. Just opened her mouth and swallowed the whole thing. Then the robot moved to the other side of the room and we all heard a soft pop kind of noise."

Monique still watching Du as if she was a hawk and he was a fat field mouse nodded her head. "I thought I could see some faints traces of smoke come out of the Bebe's ears." She added. "The Bebe then told Ron that the gas couldn't affect them but the rest of us better stay away from her for a few minutes. Ron untied Mrs. Possible and then me." Monique added once again annoyed with how long she had sat in the chair waiting for Ron to untie her before having to remind him to do it. "That is when our boy stated he could explain everything but before he could begin the remaining Bebe in the room dropped to the floor and reported the travel tube thing and Ron freaked out and took off leading the blind Bebes out of the house and into the yard. The rest you all know."

Mrs. Possible nodded her head in agreement with Monique.

Dr. Director walked up as Monique had been finishing her explanation and waited till she was finished before nodding at Mrs. Dr. Possible. "The police have finally arrived at your home and are investigating. Unfortunately, it also seems so have the local news agencies. I would like to request that you and…" Dr. Director paused.

"Monique." Was the only answer the young black woman gave as she angrily folded her arms across her chest. As far as she was concerned these people were still the enemy even though Kim repeatedly stated they had nothing to do with Ron's current problems.

"Monique." Dr. Director continued. "Remain in protective custody here at Global Justice."

"For how long?" Dr. Possible asked. "As I'm sure you know, I'm a surgeon and can't be kept away from my practice…"

"You'll have to stay with us until we can capture Ron Stoppable and his gang of course." Agent Du interrupted, earning him a cold look from the Director.

"Oh Hell no." Monique stated. "You are not going to lock me and Mrs. Possible up in some underground bunker!"

"I need to call my husband and my twins. They have to at least be informed that I am fine and what has happened." Mrs. Possible began.

"No outside communications are allowed." Du interrupted again.

"But…My husband and children have to be notified that I'm all right! If you don't inform the police or news above they will spin wild tales and have them believing any number of…"

"That is hardly our problem. We are doing this for your benefit after all…." Du started to argue with her.

"Agent Du!" Dr. Director cut him off. "Why don't you go monitor communications above so we can find out exactly what the police and news agencies are going to say?" She said firmly while pressing a few buttons on a gauntlet she was wearing. A moment later more men wearing Global Justice uniforms showed up. "Please escort Mrs. Possible and… Monique to one of our executive suites please." She said to the newcomers.

"Hey! I know my rights! You just can't bury me in some hole like this!" Monique shouted as one of the men placed a hand on her arm and started to lead her and Mrs. Possible away. Kim all the while walking alongside her mother and telling her she would find some way to get a message back to her father and the twins letting them know she was okay.

"You like eating with that hand, or doing anything else with that hand for that matter, you better be taking it off me." Monique's voice could be faintly heard before the door to the room closed and silence descended, if only for a moment.

Dr. Director with a sigh turned her attention to where Batman was still holding the television camera in his hands. She could see the masked man was staring directly at her. "I take it you don't approve or our methods?" She asked.

Batman gave a faint shrug. "Just your… Procedures are more military than civilian police."

"We do what we have to." Dr. Director replied as she gestured to the camera in his hands. "Now let's get that thing to the lab and see what the news team recorded before they died."

Batman followed the strong willed, one eyed woman as she lead him through a different door back into the sprawling complex known as Global Justice. Batman suspected that each time he was lead somewhere within the complex that they were taking him a different route in the hopes of confusing him. Little did they know the batcomputer built into his own gauntlets recorded every pathway taken and was quickly building an accurate map of the underground complex. Soon the Batman would know his way around Global Justice as well as any of their operatives did.

As they entered the main lab Batman could see Agent Du was already there at a computer console wearing headphones. As the Director and he neared the man pulled them off and stood. "So far there are no reports of Drakken or the Joker from the police or the news media. The police are being cautious about their conclusions but the news media are running with the story that this is all the work of Ron Stoppable."

"And what of the disappearance of Mrs. Possible?"

"They are concluding that she must have been kidnapped by Ron Stoppable and taken hostage. They are implying without saying it directly that is an attempt on Stoppable's part to make sure Kim Possible does not try to stop his global reign of terror."

Dr. Director frowned and one hand reached up and idly stroked the eye patch over her missing eye. An action she only did when deeply stressed. On the one hand, it was just wrong to let Ron take yet another rap when she knew he was innocent of it but on the other hand it could greatly reduce the anxiety of the general public if they believed the deaths of the reporter and the paparazzi above were simply because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time and in the way of an all ready known danger rather than be told there was a new menace, an unpredictable menace that killed in such a horrible fashion just because he found such deaths to be 'amusing'.

"Continue to monitor and alert me if there are any new developments." She finally instructed Du.

"So, you are going to allow yet another crime to be added to this Ron Stoppable's reputation?" Batman asked as the woman lead him to another bank of high tech equipment.

"At this point I don't think it really makes any difference, do you? The United Nations have already declared Ron to have committed crimes against humanity. One more charge will hardly affect the outcome if they are to capture him." Dr. Director stated in an offhand manner that she was certainly not feeling. Her stomach was twisting in knots at the thought of an innocent man being accused of crimes he had not committed but what was she to do? To report the actual events to the police or news media would alert them to the existence of Global Justice not to mention starting a country wide panic over the Joker. The greater good had to be served and if that meant sacrificing Ron?

Well, it wouldn't be the first time Global Justice had to look the other way while 'irregularities' in the world were allowed to happen. The whole mess in Ethioswana was a perfect example. Global Justice knew about the tyranny of the ruling government and how they treated the other tribes. Hell, they knew from the start about it but what could they do without causing a political upheaval and once again revealing their own existence? The need to keep the organization unknown to the rest of the world was/is so great that when her own government had contacted Dr. Director and asked for her to send Kim Possible and Ron Stoppable to guard the relief supplies sent a few years ago, she had allowed it fully suspecting that Kim would learn the truth and there would be problems. She just had never expected the biggest headache would come not from Kim but from Ron and it would be years later and of this magnitude.

"Sometimes justice is best served by allowing a few injustices to continue to exist." Dr. Director said as she motioned for Batman to place the news camera's tape into a player built into editing machine for playback.

Batman's hand tightened on the tape for a moment but he managed to keep all other reactions to her statement from showing. Batman was nobody's fool. He knew his position in this new dimension was a precarious one. He knew that Du person was chomping at the bit to have him thrown into a cell somewhere and he also knew that Dr. Director thought she was using him, using his expertise to track and trap the Joker so even though he disapproved of the methods and actions of the secret police organization he did not openly challenge them, just as long as it left him free to hunt down the Joker. Which in the end made Batman feel he was just as bad as Global Justice but at this point he would make a deal with the devil himself if it helped to put an end to the Joker's killing sprees.

As the videotape machine hummed into life, Batman and Dr. Director prepared themselves to witness the final moments of what had been a promising woman reporter's career. The woman on the tape identified herself as Katty Klang for channel 14 news and then stated that she was on assignment outside of the Possible family home hoping to get an interview with the mother of the famous heroine Kim Possible. As the woman turned, obviously about to try and wade through the mass of paparazzi between her and the front door of the house, a loud voice could be heard calling out behind her camera man. "So many cameras in one place, do they call you all a gaggle of news vultures? Or is it a giggle of newshounds? Or is it like a mass of crows, a murder of reporters?" A loud and to Batman well known high pitched laugh followed the words. As the woman reporter's camera man spun around, ignoring for the moment the reporter's indignant shout, the camera framed the Joker standing among the midst of the rest of the paparazzi. Standing behind and slightly to the side of the Joker was a battered and bruised looking man with blue skin that the Batman immediately concluded had to be this Dr. Drakken he had been hearing so much of from Kim Possible.

"My god." Dr. Director standing next to Batman breathed. "What the hell happened to Dr. Drakken?"

"The Joker's sidekicks don't generally last long. My guess is your Dr. Drakken must have told the Joker one of his jokes wasn't funny." Batman replied.

As the reporter on the tape came around her camera man to once again appear in the shot she started towards the Joker to ask him who he was and what connection he might have to the Possible family.

"The Joker does this to his own allies?" Dr. Director asked.

"The Joker has been known to flay alive his own people if the mood takes him to do it. Harley Quinn only survived for as long as she did because she was so genuinely obsessed with him, she stroked his ego constantly. When even her devotion could no longer blind her to what kind of monster he is, the Joker began to beat her to keep her in line as well. It is only because she became friends with Poison Ivy that I believe she survived long enough to break free from that madman." Batman replied.

On the tape they watched as the reporter finally made it to the Joker's side and thrust her microphone into his face. "What is this about crows and news reporters?" She asked the Joker.

"A large gathering of crows is called a murder young lady." The Joker replied. "And this is a murder of reporters as well." So saying the Joker started giggling and held up a hand revealing a small glass ball sitting in his palm. As he broke into riotous laughter he brought his thumb down on the glass globe shattering it and releasing a purple gas. Over his shoulder it could be seen Dr. Drakken shakily holding a yellow gas mask up to his face. As the reporter attempting to interview him started to back away, she started giggling as well. The camera angle began to shake as the camera man holding it also started to giggle wildly.

The Joker reached into his pocket and when he pulled out his hand again there were dozens of the glass balls in his hand and as if casting feed out to chickens, the Joker began casually tossing the balls left and right.

Dr. Director's hand reached up to lightly stroke the eye patch over her missing eye as on the tape paparazzi started weaving into and out of the shot holding their throats as they laughed and laughed, while it looked like the Joker was dancing a jig in the middle of it. "Oh my god." She whispered as a scene straight out of Hell played on the monitor screen.

Batman continued to let the tape play until the camera man filming it fell over onto his side, his camera still pointing at the reporter he was paired with as with a final laugh she grew still and a ghastly smile started to stretch across her face. As the laughter grew less and less and finally everything grew silent he started to reach over to shut the machine off when both he and Dr. Director heard a new voice off in the distance.

"My God, what happened to him?"

Dr. Director recognized the voice instantly as Ron Stoppable's.

"Scans show that the individual has been poisoned by an air borne toxin that caused spasmodic contractions of the diaphragm muscle resulting in eventual suffocation. At the moment of nonfunctioning the facial muscles contracted resulting in current facial disfigurement." The metallic voice of a Bebe robot could be heard replying to Ron's question.

Batman and Dr. Director watched as Ron found the female reporter's body and because the camera man was lying with his camera pointing in her direction they could see a sideways view of Ron's face and the horror on it when he put two and two together and figured out that the Joker must of somehow got into this dimension and be responsible. They watched as Ron's face turned pure white and he then raced towards the house. The tape continued for a few moments longer after that point but what went on inside was too distant for the tape to pick anything up.

Batman finally shut the tape off. "That would seem to confirm the reports of Dr. Possible and that young woman that was with her. The Joker and Drakken were not with Ron Stoppable and he had nothing to do with the reporters' deaths above." He watched the one eyed woman for a moment. "You are still going to let this Ron Stoppable take the blame." He said more as a statement than a question.

Dr. Director replied with a note of annoyance in her voice. "We've been over that. The public already thinks the worse of Stoppable and they have prepared themselves to hear more of it. If we introduce another unpredictable madman into their world suddenly they'll panic."

Batman could no longer hold back his disgust, disgust with Global Justice and with himself for putting up with it. Shaking his head he finally said. "So you don't report the Joker's crimes and don't give the public a description of him. He is free to walk the streets while people think he's a harmless clown? And what will you say when the Joker shows up at a daycare center and leaves dozens of tiny bodies with smiles forever carved on their faces? He's done it before you know. Women, children, animals, the Joker knows no restraints when it comes to his sadistic humor. I assume you listened in while Mrs. Possible described her ordeal? You want to know what the Joker was planning on doing with those heads of lettuce? Brain salad." Batman stated as he folded his arms across his armored chest.

"Brain salad?" Dr. Director asked confused.

"The Joker takes his victim, he cuts them open removing their organs, he then cuts the top of the head open and grinds the victim's brain in with the rest of the organs, throws in a little lettuce and piles the mess back into the victim's cavity in their chest and then dumps salad dressing on top of the whole thing."

The head of Global Justice could only look at Batman in horror as she tried to deny the images his words had burned into her mind. "No one…" She tried but failed to say.

"No one could be that sick?" Batman asked her. "Before the Joker escaped to your dimension he pulled a similar 'joke' on a family. Six young redheaded girls were fed into a chipper/shredder and their remains were put in a huge bowl and doused with vinegar and oil before the mess was left in front of a police station and knowing the Joker like I do, I'm betting that every girl was alive, awake and aware as they were fed into that shredder machine."

"What makes a monster like that?" Dr. Director breathed.

"I did." Batman replied softly as his anger was dissipated. "The Joker was a minor criminal until he tried to rob a chemical company. He was injured and left dangling over a vat of chemicals. I tried to save him but failed and he went into the vat. What came out of that chemical Hell was the Joker. Now you know why I hunt him to the ends of my Earth and beyond. He is my responsibility and I would do almost anything to stop him and see him face justice but I won't let an innocent man pay for the Joker's crimes! I have been going along with this mockery of yours for now but believe me Dr. Director, one more person dies at the hands of the Joker and I will do everything in my power to let the public know what is going on so they can at least try to protect themselves from that madman." Having had his say, Batman turned and strode away from Dr. Director back in the direction of the barracks area of Global Justice.

Du turned to watch as he passed him before going to Dr. Director's side. "Are you going to just allow him free run of Global? Even after he has stated that he plans to reveal everything if the Joker strikes again?"

"What would you suggest?" Dr. Director replied tiredly. "The man is rightfully upset that we are letting an innocent man be blamed for crimes that are not his."

"That is not even remotely important!" Du nearly growled at her. "What is important is maintaining Global Justice's clandestine activities. What do I suggest? I suggest we have several of Global Justice's special agents with this Batman at all times, armed with lethal force! If Batman tries to carry out his threat to notify the public and put Global Justice at risk he should be terminated!"

Dr. Director turned to Agent Du with fire in her one good eye. "That reminds me Du. Why are you carrying an unauthorized sidearm loaded with lethal rounds? As you just stated, only certain members of Global Justice are authorized to carry guns and you being a field operative are not! Bullets leave holes, holes bleed blood and blood can be traced back to this organization!" Dr. Director held out her hand for Du's personal weapon.

"I am sick to death of using those stun darts! They have proven to be ineffectual time after time so I purchased my own weapon to take matters into my own hands." Du stated placing a hand on the pouch containing the gun but not turning it over to her yet.

"Must I point out that if you had been using lethal ordnance all this time Kim Possible would have been dead several times over? There is a reason why field operatives are not allowed to carry guns with bullets Du and that reason is we must be able to disappear at a moment's notice so as to keep this organization hidden. Bodies riddled with bullets make local police authorities ask questions. Questions we can't afford to have answered! You so casually suggest that we kill the Batman if it looks like he may reveal our existence but then you threaten it yourself by running around shooting with live ammo! Now hand over your weapon!"

Du reluctantly unzipped the pouch at his side and pulling the snub nosed gun out he placed it in her hand.

"Don't let me find out you are carrying lethal ordinance again." She warned him. "When and if the need for lethal weapons comes up we have specially trained and equipped agents to handle it."

As Dr. Director marched off to her office, Du kept a proper respectful look on his face till her office door closed and then he scowled, turning he abandoned his post at the computer station and headed for the complex's underground parking lot.

As Batman made his way through the corridors of GJ towards the living areas and the room designated as for him while he was in this dimension he could hear the whispers and sighs of the women agents that worked there. Whispers like 'Dark Knight' and 'newest agent of Global Justice'. Batman barely managed to contain the look of disgust he was feeling. It wasn't the first time he had heard the term Dark Knight applied to himself and that hardly bothered him but being called an agent of this Global Justice was just not sitting right with him. Batman was used to abiding by his own internal compass of right and wrong and avoiding the 'gray areas' of usual law enforcement. Allowing his morals to be compromised because of being stranded in a strange dimension was definitely not sitting well with him. Allowing an innocent man to be hunted for things he had not done while a dangerous criminal like the Joker was allowed to pass among the public unreported, well this was not how the Batman did things.

Reaching his room Batman made for the computer console that was provided for him. After hearing from Kim Possible about the robotic Bebes after reports of the metallic women saving people started coming in, Batman had contacted the boy genius Wade and shared what he knew of robots and his experience in his own dimension with Karl Rossum, a robotic genius who after losing his daughter in a drunken car accident had tried to replace people with robots.

While the Bebes A.I. sounded slightly more advanced in some ways than the human replicants that H.A.R.D.A.C. A super computer built by Rossum had created, Dr. Director had hoped there might be some shared weaknesses and had ordered that Batman be provided with a console so he may converse with Wade whenever the two felt like it. Batman was under no illusions and he fully knew that the computer in his room was constantly monitored and he suspected that Wade knew it as well.

Flipping the switch Batman waited while the console booted into life and then quickly typed the commands to contact Wade. As the young African American appeared on screen and before he could say anything, Batman rapidly flexed and twitched his hands. Anyone watching might think he had a brief hand cramp and was exercising the pain away. Wade however instantly recognized the sign language used by the deaf. It had been one of the things they had briefly discussed when talking about the strange similarities between Batman and Wade's dimensions. Some artists, singers and writers seemed to be shared by both dimensions and oddly most technology was exactly the same between the worlds but then again other smaller things were vastly different. For instance there was no Ethinoswana in Batman's world and unfortunately for Batman there was no Gotham here.

Wade watched Batman's hand and quickly interpreted the movements. Batman was asking him if there was any way to encrypted their communications so Global Justice couldn't understand them. Wade quickly typed something at his keyboard and then spoke. "Okay, they can't hear us or monitor our two-way traffic. What is it you wanted to ask me without them knowing?"

Batman who was no slouch when it came to computers, after all he had been taught all he knew of computer tech from Rossum himself, was duly impressed. "How?" He asked.

Wade smiled. "I recently upgraded all the computer software for Global Justice at Dr. Director's request and like all good hackers I couldn't resist putting in my own back door. As long as no one walks into your room while we are talking, Global Justice won't even know your computer was in use during this time."

Batman nodded his head. "What I wanted to ask is exactly how much do you know of the past history of Global Justice and their activities?"

Wade frowned and rubbed a hand across his scalp. "Actually? Not much. Kim and Ron came across Global Justice in one of their missions and Dr. Director kind of recruited Kim. The few times I brought up Global Justice to Kim she always would insist they are doing good in the world and wouldn't allow me to investigate any further." Wade looked uncomfortable. "And of course there is that whole secret organization and thinly veiled threats about what they might do to maintain that secrecy."

"It's important that I know exactly what I'm dealing with here Wade."

"You have some reasons to suspect that they aren't all they claim they are?" Wade asked as his fingers flew across his keyboard as he attempted to infiltrate to deeper levels of the computer security of Global Justice than he had ever had before.

"They are going to allow the murders of reporters outside of Kim's mother's home to be attributed to Ron Stoppable even though they know they were committed by the Joker. I just want to know what other kinds of information they have suppressed to fit their own designs."

Wade looked up from his typing in shock. "Mrs. Possible's home was attacked? How can that be? I keep a constant surveillance over her house for Kim and I've not heard any…" Wade's voice ground to a halt as he stared at something on a computer screen out of Batman's viewing angle.

"What is it?" Batman asked.

"Global Justice has tampered with my monitoring cameras." Wade replied. "They have been feeding me a view from two days ago. How could I not notice that?" Wade growled as he slammed his hands down on his beloved keyboard. "You think they knew the Joker was going to attack the house and did this so I wouldn't contact Kim early and put a stop to it?"

Batman thought for a moment and then shook his head. "My guess is they have been blocking you in the hopes that Ron Stoppable would return to the house and they could capture him."

"It's getting where you can't trust anyone these days." Wade muttered before looking up in triumph. "I found the files you are looking for. They disguised some of their reports as cluster files."

If Wade expected Batman to ask what that was he was disappointed as Batman nodded his head in understanding. "They've been hiding the files as lost bits of data left over after a computer defragmentation process?"

Wade nodded his head. "Would have been a brilliant way to hide those things if not for the fact of the sheer number of lost cluster files or their unusually large sizes, now let's see what is so important they didn't want anyone to read them…" Wade, who had been typing one handedly as he held a big gulp with the other, suddenly dropped his drink as his face turned pale.

"What is it Wade?" Batman asked.

"This report I'm reading… Global Justice had information of a terrorist bombing of a plane and allowed it to go off without trying to stop it because one of the people on the plane was from a foreign government and had a briefcase with plans of a new mega laser and was heading to Dr. Drakken's to sell it to him! My god! They allowed hundreds of people to die just to stop one idiot with blueprints? Why didn't they just arrest him or confiscate his briefcase?"

Wade rapidly clicked his keys and he intercepted another lost cluster file and opened it to read. Once again a look of horror crossed his face. "This file states that a wrecked ship in the Atlantic Ocean was denied rescue when Global Justice was in the area because they didn't want to compromise their secrecy. They were right in the area! Oh my God. I know this mission too. It was when Kim and Ron were looking for a secret sea fairing lair of Dr. Drakken's back a few years ago. The pilot was even ordered to fly in a wide circumference so Kim wouldn't spot the sinking ship because they were focused on only finding Dr. Drakken and not exposing their operations."

Batman nodded his head. "It's as I feared. Global Justice is not about justice at all but only the furthering of their own agenda. They would have allowed Mrs. Possible and her friend to die if it meant they could capture the Joker or Ron Stoppable."

"Mrs. Possible's friend? Who was staying with her at the time of the attack?" Wade asked.

"Monique." Batman replied. "The woman gave no last name."

"She doesn't have to. Kim and I have known Monique since she arrived in Middletown back when Kim and Ron were in high school together. Are they both okay?" Wade asked with obvious concern.

Batman gave a firm nod of his head. "A bit shaken up from their experience at meeting the Joker but they survived, which is highly unusual for anyone meeting the Joker. Global Justice is holding them both in protective custody until the capture of Ron Stoppable."

"I can't imagine that is going over very well with Monique. She's not the type to let someone order her around with letting her displeasure be known." Wade said with a faint grin as he imagined some of the language Monique would be using. It wasn't a huge secret that Wade had a bit of a crush on the attractive and vocal young woman.

"She had a few choice words and abbreviations I believe." Batman said back dryly. Becoming deadly serious once again he continued. "What worries me at the moment is to what extent will Global Justice go to keep their activities quiet?"

"What do you mean?" Wade asked.

"Well for example, let's suppose that the U.N. manages to capture Ron Stoppable and put him on trial for the supposed crimes he has committed. How can Global Justice ever allow Dr. Possible or Monique to go free after the trial when they know for a fact that at least some of the crimes he was accused of, he was innocent of them?"

"You are not saying you believe they would kill Mrs. Dr. Possible and Monique just to cover up what they knew and when they knew it?" Wade asked shaking his head. "I mean…"

"They allowed a bombing of a plane to get one man." Batman reminded him.

"But Kim would never stand for…"

"What makes you think they wouldn't just kill her as well?" Batman countered. "From what I have heard and witnessed with my own eyes, no one knows this Ron Stoppable better than Kim Possible and if he were to be put on trial for his life for crimes he had nothing to do with?"

"Kim would do anything to save him." Wade finished. "Even to the point of revealing Global Justice to the world and what they have done." Wade seemed to ponder for a moment. "We have to get you all out of there and now. I'm still having trouble believing they would go to that extreme an action but I have to admit for the first time since knowing her that I don't think I trust Dr. Director any more. We can't take any more chances. Can you get to where they are holding Mrs. Possible and Monique and free them? I can send you a map of the complex if that will help."

Batman raised his arm displaying his batcomputer gauntlet. "I've got it covered. But once I've freed them where can we go? Don't forget, I'm a stranger to this dimension. I don't know this world."

Wade nodded his head. "Under the circumstances I can only think of one possible safe place, if you'll pardon the unintentional pun there, Kim's uncle's ranch. It's where her father and her brothers are right now. If I know Kim, she hasn't left her mother's side since they brought her and Monique in and she can direct you how to get there."

"Won't that be the first place Global Justice will think to look for them?"

"Probably but Kim's uncle is no slouch when it comes to robotics and science himself. His ranch is secure and should be able to even hold off Global Justice if it comes down to that. It's why the family chose to go there to wait out the media storm in the first place. Not even a gopher could find his way onto her uncle's property without him knowing it and stopping it, without killing of course. Dr. Possible's family doesn't believe in killing things." Wade was starting to ramble and he knew it but he was nervous. Global Justice wasn't the type of group you fooled around with and once they found Kim, Batman and Monique missing they would come for him too.

"What about yourself?" Batman asked, showing that he knew it as well.

Wade looked sadly around his computer lair before answering. "I'll have to bug out too. I'll head out to the ranch as well. I don't think the Possible family will deny me sanctuary."

With a final be careful from both sides, Batman signed off the computer terminal and made his way out of his room and strolled casually down the hallway towards where Mrs. Possible and Monique were being held. How did he know which room was theirs? Easy, it was the one with two guards standing on either side of a door behind which Monique could be heard ranting at the top of her voice.

"I know my rights! They can't do this to me!" Monique's muffled voice could be heard in the hallway.

At a slightly lower volume, Kim's voice could be heard trying to placate the African American woman. "Monique calm down. Global Justice isn't the bad guys here. They are just keeping you and mom here for your own protection."

Batman nodded at the two guards as he drew abreast of them, only to lash out in a precise and swift move a moment later that rendered both men instantly unconscious as Batman targeted nerve points.

Examining the lock on the door Batman could see that instead of an easily picked lock there was an elaborate combination lock with numeric keypad on it. With a frown Batman noted that his own door had no such elaborate lock on it and idly he wondered if it was because they considered Mrs. Possible and Monique a higher flight risk than him or that Dr. Director had just decided that if Batman wanted out of his room he would have found a way.

Rather than waste time with the batcomputer trying to figure out the combination to the door or trying to rig some kind of sonic device to trigger the lock, Batman just reached into a pouch on his utility belt and removed a tiny aerosol can and sprayed an acid across the locking mechanism. Within seconds the lock, and the doorknob to the door, fell off. Reaching out he swung the door open to find Mrs. Possible sitting in a chair holding her head while a red faced Kim Possible and Monique faced off across from each other. Both young women were so locked in a contest of wills neither of them noticed that Batman had entered the room.

"I can't believe how gullible you are girl!" Monique shouted almost in Kim's face. "By them holding us here against our will and not even letting you contact your father to let them know your mother is alive and safe, Global Justice is violating the constitution of this country. How can they be the 'good' guys if they are doing that?"

"All right! Maybe they are being a bit zealous in their duties but…"

"But nothing! If they are doing this, who knows what else they have done in pursuit of their 'duties'?"

"I can answer that." Batman stated drawing all three women in the room's attention. "I've talked to Wade and he did some research for me. It would seem that Global Justice is guilty of allowing untold deaths to happen to keep their secrets and continue their actions unobserved."

Kim's face turned pale. "I can't believe…"

"For God's sake Kim!" Monique said shaking Kim. "Don't you remember that time you bitched to me for almost a week solid about Ethioswana when you and Ron were sent over there the first time? How the government wouldn't allow the food to go to the starving masses but was using it to supply their army? How you complained to your precious Dr. Director and she told you it was beyond Global Justice and your control and to just let it go?"

Monique suddenly let go of Kim and blinked for a few seconds. "I get it now." She finally said in a daze. "How could I not see it before?"

"What?" Mrs. Possible asked as both her, Batman and Kim looked on curiously.

"Ron and his connection to that village over there. The one they are accusing him of taking by force and holding it hostage, he went over there and is probably feeding and caring for those people."

"Why would he do that?" Kim asked.

Monique looked at her for a moment and then with a shake of her head she put a hand to her face covering her eyes as if she had a headache before pulling her hand away to glare at Kim. "For one thing Kim, this is Ron we are talking about. The boy would cross a river of lava to save a kitten! And for another, he's doing it for you!"

Kim reeled back as if Monique had physically struck her. "Me? How do you figure that?"

Monique sighed. "Kim Possible. The woman who can do anything. Except save a starving tribe because the 'rules'…" Here Monique made air quotes with her fingers. "Said she couldn't. So when Ron decided to jump the fence and join the other side where 'rules' don't mean anything, what was the first thing he did?"

"Rob a casino in Las Vegas." Kim replied but softly.

Monique shot her a look as if she just wanted to slap her. "After that? He and his posse went to save some hungry people."

Kim couldn't let it go. "His posse if you will remember are all wanted criminals!"

"Who are interfering in a small tribe in Africa!" Monique shouted back. "What possible monetary gain can they get from feeding hungry people and protecting them from the heavy handed tactics of their own government? For God's sake girl, THINK! If you are trying to rescue a group of people from a small band of terrorists like the government over there are claiming they are doing, do you send in a small covert team to take the terrorists out quietly and efficiently or do you send tanks and marching armies? The government over there doesn't want to rescue their people! They want to have a bloodbath and eliminate everyone and the only thing stopping them is Ron and his Bebes!"

Batman finally stepped between the two feuding friends. "Look we can debate what Ron Stoppable is really trying to do or not to do at a later time but for right now I need to get you all out of Global Justice's control. There are two knocked out guards in the hallway and they won't stay undiscovered for long."

"You knocked out two Global Justice agents?" Kim asked shocked.

"I didn't think they would stand by while we left if I asked them nicely." Batman said dryly as he walked over to the doorway and started hauling one of the knocked out guards inside. He was a bit surprised when Monique quickly joined him and grabbing the other guard tugged and pulled on the man's legs until she got him inside the room as well.

"Monique! What do you think you are doing?" Kim asked.

"What does it look like?"

"Mo…" Kim started but was stopped as Monique turned to face her with a no nonsense look on her face.

"Look Kim, you can do whatever it is you want to but I for one am not going to stand around while they paint Ron as some Jack the Ripper and bury me and your mother in some underground tomb to keep us from setting the world straight. Girlfriend it is time for you to make up your mind. Are you for the 'rules' or are you for what is right?"

Kim let out a sigh as if she was deflating for a moment. "Where can we go?" She finally settled for asking.

"Your friend Wade suggested your family's uncle's ranch." Batman supplied.

"I'm not dragging my family into this any more than they already are." Kim started to argue but was stopped when her mother stood up and nodded at Batman. "That is where we'll go."

"Mom?"

"No arguments Kim. Ron saved Monique's and my lives this night and I'm not going to stand around and let Global Justice allow the news media or the police to say differently!"

Kim looked down at the floor but she replied to her mother. "Yes mom."

Meanwhile with Ron and the two Bebes:

Ron thinking that Global Justice would have contacted the police and issued an All Points Bulletin on him and a description of his car had pulled into an abandoned warehouse in Middletown's more seedier area of town and tried to decide what to do next.

I owe Harley and Ivy an apology the next time I see them." He muttered as he helped the Bebes from the back of the car.

"For breaking the group apart?" One of the Bebes asked him causing Ron to wince.

"Um, no. About making fun of their use of abandoned warehouses in Gotham. I never knew there were so many of them and how useful they could be when you are on the run."

"What is the leader's next course of action?" The other Bebe inquired.

Ron was grateful at the moment that the Bebes with him that thought so highly of him couldn't see how lost and desperate he was. "Well, I need to get your eyes and communications repaired."

"Correction Leader. Your first course of action should be to avoid capture. Bebes are expendable so do not concern yourself with our condition."

"Bull!" Ron stated. "You are part of the group and just as important as anyone, and that even means me. We are in this together! Now is their some equipment or someone I can find that can help me repair the damage done to you?"

"Negative leader, repairs can only be accomplished by the Bebe assembly line where we were assembled."

"Which means back…" Ron said with a sinking feeling.

"At the underground dwelling in Las Vegas. That is correct Leader Ron."

Ron released a long ragged sigh. With the Bebes unable to call for help from their sisters, that meant Ron would have to take them back home himself and that meant he would most likely run into the ladies. It wasn't that Ron didn't want to see them. Oh no, every fiber in his being wanted to run into their arms and never leave again but going back meant endangering them. Not to mention he could only imagine what they would do to him for leaving them all so abruptly and using the Bebes to make sure they couldn't come after him.

Ron released one more sigh before shrugging. There was nothing else to be done. He would have to man up, do what was necessary and take the Bebes home. He was their leader and he was a man. And a man has to do what a man has to do.

He would sneak the Bebes back in to their assembly line area under the cover of night and get them repaired and with any luck manage to sneak back out without Shego, Bonnie, Ivy, Harley, Yori and her ninajs or Rufus finding out. Ron gulped at that thought of how likely that would be before pushing it to the back of his head. First things first. He would have to ditch Shego's car and find a new one to take them home.

"You Bebes are going to have to stay here while I see about getting us a new car. The police are bound to have a description of this one and our license plate…"

"Negative Leader Ron. Bebes must accompany the Leader to protect him."

Ron could have argued that they were blind and thusly not exactly able to protect him and that he could take care of himself but one thing he had learned from all his experiences with Kim was, you'll never win an argument with a determined female so don't even bother to try.

"Okay but we are going to have to move quietly and stealthy, er stealthishly? Er, Stealthfishly?"

"Leader? Bebes understand. We must remain unseen."

"Um, yeah. That's what I meant." Ron muttered as he made sure Shego's car was covered as best as he could with rubbish from the empty warehouse. It was Shego's car so sooner or later Ron would have to come back for it. Making sure that the lead Bebe had her hand firmly on his belt, and a silent prayer that his belt didn't come loose or fall off during their excursion and making sure that the second Bebe had her hand on the first one's shoulder, he started off leading his team in search of a new car to 'borrow'.

Will Du still steaming about his being chewed out by Dr. Director drove his expensive red sports car aimlessly down the streets of Middletown. Officially he was breaking the rules yet again by being away from the base without permission but he needed to clear his head before he did something he would regret. Not paying attention to where he was going, he was surprised to find that he had driven to a strip club that he often frequented on Fridays, his night off.

Knowing that it was probably a very bad idea but for once overriding his rigid structure schedule, Du pulled into the parking lot and exited his car. One beer that was all he was going to have. Just one beer among the patrons of the strip bar that had no idea he was an agent and he would be off, back to Global Justice and no one would be the wiser. Du couldn't help but smile when he noticed a large dark sedan parked near the front entrance of the bar. He knew that car and he knew of the owner of it. Du had met her at the bar one time and they had hit it off fairly well. Ironically the woman who treated Du like a man and not an idiot strongly resembled Kim Possible in that she had flaming red hair and a stunning figure but Du ignored the implications of his infatuation with her was some kind of repressed desire for the constant amateur thorn in his side.

Megan Orla watched the patrons of the bar in boredom. She was a woman who craved excitement and to many of her boyfriends regrets, mischief. Something her job at a trashy 'news magazine' managed to give her but she craved more. She also wanted to be respected as a credible journalist. Something she would never get working where 'inquiring minds like to inquire' would give her.

But to break into the big times required either years and years of dedicated work or a major scoop to open the doors.

Hard work bored Megan and a major scoop wasn't likely to happen hanging around a strip bar but you never knew. Megan spent her evenings buying drinks and chatting up the guys in the bar searching for a VIP slumming. Inevitably the men would start off telling her they were important government workers or CIA, only once drunk to reveal that it was not just the size of certain 'items' they had lied about but that they were actually 7-11 managers or working at Smarty Mart.

Noticing the door to the bar opening she looked over to see if she recognized who was coming in. She was pleasantly surprised to see the man she knew as Willy come in. He usually showed up only on Fridays and was one of the 'nuts' she hadn't cracked yet. Time and time she had tried ply him with alcohol to loosen his tongue and find out something about him but the man was extremely tight lipped about what he did for a living. Which Megan had to admit to herself intrigued her. Most men were far too eager to talk and brag about themselves but Willy did none of that. Also he avoided the stronger boozes and would only have beer, something else that intrigued and also annoyed Megan. But Megan had caught more than once Willy hanging outside the bar waiting for her to show up and escort her inside. She knew it was only a matter of time before this 'nut' would also crack.

"Willy!" She screamed as she raced over and grabbed his arm and dragged him away from the tables and over to the bar proper. Not only might it make her effort to get him drunk easier, it was also quieter over at the bar and away from the strippers at their poles. "What brings you here tonight? This isn't your usual night."

Du while infatuated with the woman that treated him like he was someone still stiffened slightly as the woman grabbed his arm in such a familiar fashion but he allowed her to lead him where she wanted. After all, he had broken his schedule to blow off a little steam and some conversation with a beautiful woman couldn't lead him into any trouble, could it? "Work got a little tense so I decided to take a break." He replied to the woman's question.

"You know, you never did tell me what you did for a living." Megan reminded him. "You must be in charge if you can just walk away for a break when you want to."

Du motioned the bartender over to ask for a beer but Morgan placed her hand over his. "Why don't you try something new tonight?" She asked him as the bartender made his way over.

"Nothing alcoholic." Du stated. "I have to get back to work soon. And I don't like to brag but I am fairly high up on the chain of command at my job. They would be lost without me."

Megan paused with a shrewd look on her face which fortunately Du missed. The use of 'chain of command' is what caused the pause. Not many men used that tern to describe their work environments unless they worked in the military or a government position. Maybe her interest in Willy was going to pay off tonight. If nothing else, she planned that she was going to get him into her bed this night. Willy was pleasing to the eye and Megan hoped his performance would be on par with the attitude he carried himself with.

Noticing that the bartender was waiting she called out to him. "A Shirley Temple for me and a Manhattan Ice Tea for Willy here."

Du frowned. "They serve tea in here?" He asked slightly in suspicion. While it was true that Du was a bit of a regular in here on Friday nights. He wasn't much of a drinker and had avoided anything but a single beer a visit and rarely paid attention to the other patrons, only watching the strippers doing their routines at the poles while he nursed that single beer through the night.

The bartender appeared to be about to speak but stopped as Megan shot him a look. With a shrug he went away to fix the drink without explaining that Manhattan Ice Tea was actually a mixed drink containing some of the most potent alcohol beverages there was. If Megan was 'hunting' tonight it wasn't his business to spoil her fun. A person shouldn't allow someone to order something for them if they didn't know what it was. Maybe the guy would learn a lesson this night?

"Yeah, it's ice tea." Megan said in response to Willy's question. "They add a little bit of seltzer to give it bubbles and just a touch of... Um, beer to give it a pleasant burn."

The bartender a short distance away snorted but kept his back blocking what he was doing so the guy wouldn't see. Quickly he took a large mixing glass and put in 1 ounce of bourbon whiskey, 1 ounce of Scotch whiskey, 1 ounce of Tequila, 1 ounce of brandy and 2 ounces of sweet and sour mix and then just a splash of coke for coloring. Mixing it, he then poured the mixture into a tall glass with ice. The resulting mixture looked like ice tea and surprisingly with that much alcohol in it tasted quite like sweet ice tea as well. He then quickly mixed up various fruit juices to make Megan's Shirley Temple.

Delivering the drinks he then went on to the other customers.

After Megan got the third 'ice tea' down Willy she learned he was more than she ever dared to hope for. She learned he was a honest to God secret agent in a hush hush police organization that no one, as far as she knew, in the news world knew about and that he hated his boss and he was involved in the hunt for the sudden rise to infamy dictator Ron Stoppable.

"What kind of name is Ron for a dictator anyway?" She asked the now soused Will Du.

Du blinked owlishly at her. He seriously was a light weight when it came to drinking and even though he didn't know it, he was deeply drunk. "Lesh me tells you a secret." He confided in too loud a whisper. "He's not really a dickshashor. He's just a pasty the Woasian government and Global Justice is using."

Megan frowned. "Do you mean patsy?"

Du nodded his head enthusiastically and then grabbed his head as the action made it swim.

"This Ron Stoppable guy isn't some kind of power mad monster but some innocent moron they are trying to pin..."

"Proshably everything." Du made a wide gesture with both of his arms as he nodded again but this time more slowly and carefully. "I'sh met the guy, he's too kind harted and honest to do anything like what theys says he is."

Megan was honestly confused. "But why then...?"

"Cause the government over theres says so. You know what runs the world?" Du held up a hand and rubbed his first two fingers against his thumb in the universal symbol of money. "Power." Du blinked at his own hand and shook his head a little. "The Wosian government wants him as a scapessheep to blame everything on so they can kills off the undesirarles."

"You mean the Tazoian, a scapegoat and undesirables." Megan corrected him automatically before her eyes grew large. She wanted a scoop to get access to a real journalism career and she had been handed a virtual atomic bomb of a scoop. A foreign government was planning on genocide and was blaming an American citizen of the crimes and not only did an American government agency know about it but was going along with it! If Willy was to be believed, even the United Nations was being duped!

Some of the excitement left Megan. That was the crux wasn't it? Was Du who he said he was and was what he was telling her the truth? Usually men that got as drunk as he did, did tend to tell the truth without realizing it but was that the case this time? Maybe he was just fantasizing everything to make himself look more important?

Megan leaned over and ran her fingers through Willy's hair and the drunken man leaned into her touch. "Willy... Is there anyway you can prove any of what you say is real? How do you know for certain that Stoppable is innocent of everything they claim he has done?"

"Welsh, I know for certain he's innoshent of killing all those reporters outside of Docor Posshible."

"Reporters? What reporters?" Megan asked sharply. She hadn't heard of the deaths outside of Dr. Possible's residence since she had been in the bar all evening long.

"The reporshers that died waughing, er I mean laughing." Du said as he swayed slightly on his barstool. "Outside Posshible's home tonight." Du added and then laid his head on the bar countertop.

"Frank! Get over here now!" Megan yelled at the bartender as she felt her blood trying to turn to ice. Normally she would be right there with the other Paparazzis trying to get a 'quote' from Dr. Possible for her trash magazine to twist. It was only a fluke that tonight she decided to go to the bar instead.

The bartender glanced at the barely conscious man with his head lying on the bar. "Look, its not my fault you got him too drunk to have any fun. I could have told you after the second Manhattan that he couldn't take too much more..."

"Not that! Turn on the TV!" Megan said gesturing to a turned off TV Behind the bar.

The bartender looked at curiously but without a word turned around and turned the TV on.

Instead of the insipid TV sitcom that was scheduled to be on they both saw a very serious looking news anchor sitting behind his desk. "Once again nothing new has been released about the Paparazzi Massacre that has taken place earlier this evening outside of Dr. Possible's home. We still have no reports on whether the talented woman doctor was involved in the deaths or indeed if she is another victim. What little information we have gathered state that the photographers and one local news reporter were found with ghastly smiles stretching across their faces..." There was more but Megan tuned it out. Du had known about the murders. That didn't immediately mean everything he had told her was true but it was a pretty good start.

"Come on Willy baby. You are going home with me tonight and we are going to have a long talk about Global Justice and everything you know." She told the drunk man.

"Cansh." Du stated. "I'm shuppose to be back at Gss Jss now! I have to hunts downs Shottable. Director doctor can'ts find her hot ass with both hands without me. They needs me. Besides theys come looking for me if I don't comes back tonight and if they find my car in the pahking lots..."

"Give me the keys! We'll take your car back to my place and leave mine here. That way they won't find you are playing hooky!" Megan stated.

Du blinked at her owlishly once again. Something seemed wrong about her logic but Du in his state couldn't place what it was. After a moment he pulled out some car keys and handed them over to her. "Red sports car. License plate is ..TOP DU I love red." Du said to her reaching out to touch her hair but almost falling.

Meanwhile, just outside the strip bar...

Ron passed by several cars parked along the grimy streets because he already felt bad about stealing someone's ride. After all he didn't know the people whose cars were parked on the street. Perhaps they had kids and had to take them to school tomorrow and have to explain why they couldn't because some asshole, being Ron, had stolen their car in the middle of the night.

Finally spotting the strip bar Ron made his way cautiously into the parking lot. After all it was unlikely that the patrons of such a place had families and if they did, they should be home with their loved ones and not watching a bunch of naked women gyrating for their pleasure.

Ron passed by several large cars because they looked to be in poor condition. He could just imagine stealing a car like that and having it break down a short time later. He also passed by a van because he feared that he might find someone sleeping off their drunken state inside.

He could feel the Bebe directly behind him remove her hand from his belt and place her hand on his shoulder minutely tighten her grip even if she said nothing and Ron interpreted it to mean that she was getting annoyed with his selectivity.

Seeing something Ron in shock almost stood up from his half crouch but caught himself at the last moment. "It couldn't be." Ron said out loud.

"Leader Ron must specify. What cannot be?" The Bebe holding his shoulder questioned.

"Um, I think I just spotted a car belonging to an old friend." Ron stated as he squinted in the gloom of the parking lot at the license plate that had caught his eye. TOP DU.

The car was totally impractical for what Ron was needing. The backseat was tiny and he doubted the Bebes would be comfortable crammed into its small space and the car was far from inconspicuous. It was the type of car that police officers would eye just for looking like the owner was the type to speed.

Ron started to pass it by but suddenly the mental image of Will Du's gleeful face as he pulled a gun to shoot him at close range just hours ago flashed through Ron's mind.

"Ladies? I think we've found our ride." Ron said with a faint grin on his face as he found out that Du in his eagerness to get inside the bar had atypically left his car unlocked.

AAAAAAAAA

Author Note:

AAAAAAAAA

Yes, finally an update. I know that many have been waiting patiently for me to post and wondering why it was taking so long. Well the answer is a simple one.

This hasn't been a good year for me.

From taking care of an ailing father to computer troubles to breaking my foot. It would seem the gods of misfortunes have taken a liking to me. A sentiment that I do not return to them. I've been trying to regain control of my life and rest assured I haven't forgotten my fans. Hopefully will be posting more in the very near future.


	30. Chapter 30

Partners in Crime

By Weirdbard

Chapter 30

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As things were to turn out that night, not only would Will Du be the only one to lose a car that night.

Kim Possible even though she never used a car to arrive at Global Justice still knew of the underground parking lot and lead Batman, Monique and her mother to it.

Searching the parking lot they found a dark nondescript sedan that would suit their escape needs. The fact that it was parked in the reserve section for the Director of Global Justice only made Monique's day.

Instinctively Batman made for the driver's side.

"Oh yeah that won't look odd at all." Monique sarcastically stated. "A man wearing a dark mask driving a car through town. We'll get maybe a block or two before we are pulled over for suspicion alone."

Batman considered for only a moment. He could either crouch down in the back seat of the car while allowing someone else to drive, and control his destiny or...

Without a word Batman walked away from the car towards a darkened section of the underground parking lot.

"Um, where's he going?" Kim wondered to her mother and Monique. Mrs. Dr. Possible could only shrug back to her daughter as they waited outside of the car for Batman to return.

The mouths of all three women dropped open in shock as a few moments later a tall man with coal black hair, piercing eyes and a square jaw came walking back from the shadows Batman had entered. Under his arm was the armored cowl, cape and upper body armor of the Batman. He was still wearing the pants, the boots and belt of his costume but his upper body was now only clothed by a simple T-shirt.

Monique who had been annoyed by the mystery man ever since meeting him still couldn't resist a gulp as her eyes took in the broad chest and six pack abs that were revealed by the tight T-shirt. Kim's reaction was a bit more intense as she breathed out a 'oh my'. Even the married Mrs. Possible couldn't resist an appreciative look at Batman's impressive physique.

"I... Um." Kim uncharacteristically was at a temporary loss for words. "If you were willing to remove your costume why did you resist for so long when Du had a fit about it?" She finally managed to get out.

"I've considered the possibility of running into the Joker, Harley or Ivy and they recognizing me from our world and balanced that with, as Monique pointed out the limitations on my movements in this world wearing my costume and decided for the time being to risk removing it."

Monique continued to examine him under the lights of the parking garage. "Won't help any if we have to continue to call you Batman and someone else hears."

Batman inclined his head slightly in a nod. "True. You may call me while I'm out of my costume as Bruce."

"Just Bruce?"

"Yes Monique. Just Bruce." Batman answered her stressing her name as he used a tool from the utility belt of his costume, which he was still wearing, and opened the trunk of the car to dump his cowl and upper body armor into it. Closing the trunk lid he went to the driver's side of the car and climbed in.

"You know, I think I could learn to like this guy." Monique said to Kim. Seeing the blank stare on Kim's face as she continued to stare in the direction of Batman, Monique rolled her eyes. "Put your eyes back in your head girl! He's old enough to be your father."

As Kim shook herself a bit and headed for the front passenger side of the car, she was cut off by her own mother who hastened her steps.

"And you are a married woman." Monique called out to Mrs. Possible. Dr. Possible favored Monique with a frown before saying. "I have to direct him how to reach the ranch."

Kim and Monique shared a look before getting in the back seat of the sedan.

Kim leaned forward to peer over the front seat as the man now known to them as Bruce searched under the front console of the car.

"Going to hotwire it?" Monique asked.

"No need." Bruce replied. "The keys were left on the visor."

"Then what are you doing?" Kim asked.

"Searching for a locator beacon." Bruce answered.

"You think there is one?" Monique asked.

"I would have one on my vehicle and your Dr. Director strikes me as at least as cautious as I am." Bruce stated before a look of grim satisfaction crossed his face and a moment later he gave a tug and a circuit board trailing wires was revealed in his fist.

AAAAAA

Meanwhile with Ron and the two damaged Bebes

AAAAAA

Ron hummed a popular song to himself while he drove Will Du's stolen car. Sure, just because he had managed to get out of the city limits of Middletown he was still far from safe. There was always the danger that Du had noticed his car missing already and had called the cops, or worse Global Justice. There was also the fact that Ron was the most wanted man in the world right now and some sharp eyed citizen might recognize him from TV and call in a report.

And if nothing else, there was also on his 'worry list' the fact he was driving one hot looking sports car and could draw the attention of the police just for that.

But at the moment Ron couldn't be bothered worrying about any of that. He was still alive and he was driving a sporty ride. He was on his way back to a place he now considered home, (course whether he would survive the reunion with his ladies was another question to be added to his worry list when he had the time) and finally he was on a mission to see to the repairs of his Bebes.

As a matter of fact the only thing that was harshing Ron's mellow feelings of the moment was the fact that Du didn't have a car stereo.

"What kind of man has a hot sports car but no car stereo?" Ron asked rhetorically.

"A man that does not take enjoyment of music while driving a motorized vehicle." One of the Bebes in the small back seat replied.

"That sounds like Du all right." Ron agreed. "He's probably afraid that if he plays music while driving it might induce him to speed."

"Leader? What is our current rate of travel?"

Ron frowned. "I'm not speeding. I'm driving well below the speed limit so as not to draw attention."

"Would that not have the opposite effect than the one desired?"

"What do you mean?" Ron asked but resisted the urge to take his eyes off the road to look back at the two metallic women.

"A sports car driving down a highway below the speed limit could attract as much attention and curiosity as one traveling at an excessive rate of speed."

Ron nodded his head, even though the Bebes couldn't see it and pressed down on the accelerator a bit harder and watched as the car smoothly increased speed till he was exactly doing the speed limit.

Unbeknownst to either Ron or the Bebes in the back seat they had already been spotted but not by the local highway patrol or Global Justice but by a Bebe on random patrol in the area for accidents on the highway. Her high powered optics quickly identified Ron driving the vehicle and she was puzzled why she wasn't receiving an acknowledgment from her fellow 'sisters' in the back seat. In less than a millisecond the Bebe sought guidance from the Hive Mind back in the Nevada underground home.

"Should this Bebe intercept the Leader and seek guidance on why Bebes assigned to him are missing from the network?" The Bebe asked as she easily, but at a distance, kept up with the moving car.

The Hive Mind pondered for a moment. "Negative. Last report from Bebes assigned to the Leader show an incident happening at the Possible family home. Communication was lost with the units soon after. Conclusion? Bebes assigned to the Leader have been damaged in some way and the Leader is returning them for repair."

The Hive Mind looking through the reporting in Bebe's eyes could see the Bebes in question in the back seat and knew that the Leader was heading in a direction that with time would return him to the underground base.

The Bebe shadowing the car Ron was in, had a millisecond's desire to demand from the Hive Mind an explanation on how the Bebes with the leader were injured and why the incident wasn't part of the collective Bebe's memories but she suppressed it. Obviously, the Hive Mind had no information or it would have already shared it with the network. As for the whole attack not being part of the collective's mind memory? The Bebe knew that all incoming information was first received by the Hive Mind and only when it was deemed necessary was that information put onto the network for all Bebes to have access to it. After all, not even super robots like the Bebes could deal with a constant overload of information and perceptions and keep it all straight. That was the Hive Mind's job and how to act on that information was the job of the Leader.

"Should this Bebe offer assistance to the Leader?"

"Negative. Continue to monitor the Leader's progress and keep Hive Mind informed. Intercept and redirect any human law enforcement operatives if it appears they will interfere with the Leader's progress. It has been decided that the Leader shall return to his ladies for the Leader to operate at maximum efficiency and as the Leader is already progressing towards that goal without Bebe assistance he shall be allowed to continue to do so."

The Bebe shadowing the Leader's car couldn't explain it but for several milliseconds she experienced a micro power surge. To the machine's mind she couldn't place what the experience was and filed it away to be examined by the Hive Mind when she had some downtime. A human would have recognized the surge as feelings of relief and happiness that the Leader would soon be back among his ladies and would be returning back to his old self.

AAAAAAA

On the road with the Possible ladies, Monique and Batman

AAAAAAA

Batman, now known to the small group as 'Bruce' tried to ignore Monique who had pushed Kim out of the way and was now leaning over the back seat to stare at his profile as he drove.

"So... Bruce. We've got a long ride ahead of us. Why don't you tell us about yourself?" Monique tried.

"It's not going to work Monique." Kim explained to her. "He never would tell Global Justice anything about himself..."

"Actually, they never asked." Bruce Wayne replied, never taking his eyes off the road ahead of him. "They tried to subtly pump me for information but never just came out and asked me about myself."

"Well. I'm asking. What lead you to become the 'Batman'" Monique asked saying his name dramatically while making quote marks with her fingers. The man driving was quiet for such a long time she almost worried he wasn't going to answer her.

"My family was killed by criminals when I was a child. Right in front of my eyes I watched as a low life punk that the police should have had controlled shot both my parents in front of me." Bruce was silent for a moment. "It was then I vowed that if the police couldn't handle crime I would."

Dr. Possible who was turned slightly in her seat to watch the man next to her driving asked. "But how as a child were you able to..." She let the question hang in the air not sure how to sum up all that Batman had apparently become.

"I had certain advantages." Bruce stated, still not taking his eyes off the road to glance at either woman questioning him.

"You mean you were rich?" Kim asked from the back seat.

"I never said that." Bruce replied.

"Oh please. There is no way an orphaned child could develop a physique like that or the skills you possess if they were in an orphanage or struggling to just stay alive. You probably had a court ordered guardian that was willing to watch you for the money..."

"Actually the family butler volunteered to be my guardian." Bruce replied as his hands gripped the steering wheel.

Monique gave a low whistle. "Family butler? Your family must have been really rich."

She could see by the dashboard lights Bruce's jaw tighten.

"My family in one way or another help to fund and build Gotham City." Bruce Wayne finally glanced out of the corner of his eye at Monique.

Monique just shook her head in annoyance. "I don't know any Gotham City."

Bruce barely nodded his head. "I know. After being... Recruited by Global Justice, I looked on their computers for Gotham or any place I would recognize. Didn't find Gotham but I did find a city roughly equal to it's size. New York City."

Monique blinked a few times. "Your family helped to fund and build a city as large as New York City? Wait! How could there be a city as large as New York City and I've never heard of it."

"Simple. I'm not from your world, or at least not your dimension."

Kim with a tug on Monique's belt pulled her back to the backseat. "Remember that Trans-dimensional vortex Inducer thing? I told you about it one time when Drakken had stolen it originally. Well it got used again and Harley Quinn, Poison Ivy, the Joker and Batman were brought from another dimension to ours."

Monique was stunned into silence but only for a moment. "What is the story behind that Joker person?" She finally asked the back of Bruce's head.

Mrs. Dr. Possible nodded her head. "Now that is something I too would like to know. What creates a man like that?"

She noticed the man she now knew as Bruce tighten his hands on the steering wheel once again and she wondered why the wheel didn't break from the strain.

"After my parents deaths I spent every second of my life from that point on dedicated to getting stronger, faster, smarter so I could become a weapon against crime and criminals. I mastered every subject in school and then studied on my own til my eyes burned from lack of sleep.

As soon as I was old enough to leave on my own, I toured the world studying martial arts, lock picking, even stage magic and finally when I thought I was ready I returned to Gotham City to begin my crusade against crime. After deciding on adopting the symbol of the bat so as to scare the cowardly superstitious lowlifes, I started hunting the night."

While Mrs. Dr. Possible thought this was a fascinating insight into the stranger next to her, she wondered what this had to do with the pasty white face maniac she faced this night.

Bruce/Batman was quiet for a moment and then with a deep breath as if revealing a dark secret he had borne alone for years he continued. "I started slowly. Stopping a few burglars here, a purse snatcher there. Slowly Gotham's underworld began to know of me and even more slowly, the Gotham police department.

Finally came the night when I traced a minor criminal known as Jack Napier to a chemical factory. Napier was an enforcer for a local crime lord and that night he was on a mission of arson. The chemical plant had connections to the crime lord and he wanted the evidence and the place burned to the ground so he had sent Napier. I quickly apprehended the thugs that had accompanied Napier until he was the only one left. I finally cornered Napier on a catwalk above a giant vat used by the factory as a collection bin for all the left over waste products from the various processes the plant used."

Bruce studied the dark road ahead of him for a moment.

"The Gotham police had entered the factory sometime during our fight. I was so focused on my prey that to be honest I hadn't even noticed they were there until Napier fired his gun at one of the officers. I rushed Napier to bring an end to the chase before anyone else got injured and Napier went over the railing of the catwalk to hang above the vat."

"He fell in?" Kim asked from the back seat.

"Not at first." Bruce admitted. "I managed to catch his arm leaving him dangling. The man looked up at me and instead of fear or begging me to pull him up he only said one thing. "Ever dance with the devil in the pale moonlight?""

"That is one seriously screwed up thing to say while hanging from someone's arm." Monique stated.

Mrs. Dr. Possible who had been studying Bruce's profile the entire time of his story wondered how Bruce's teeth didn't crack from the strain that was visible in his jawline. "His saying had some kind of meaning to you didn't it?" She asked.

Bruce gave a sharp nod. "It was exactly the same thing the punk who shot my parents to death asked me after he killed them."

Kim gave a gasp. "You didn't...?"

Bruce was silent for a very long time. Finally he breathed so low the women in the car almost didn't hear his confession. "I don't know. Napier slipped through my fingers and fell into the vat of chemicals. Did I loosen my grip from shock at finding out that he might have been the one who killed my parents? Did the muscles in my hand just give out from the strain? To this day, I just don't know."

"That Jack Napier...?" Monique asked in a quiet voice.

Bruce gave a terse nod. "The next day The Joker made his appearance. His hair permanently dyed green and his white face forever frozen in a smile from the chemical soup I dropped him in. His mind forever locked in a comedy of insanity. The Joker is my fault and I won't have a restful moment until I capture him and return him to Arkham. That's a institution for the criminally insane in Gotham."

"Take him to a nuthouse?" Monique asked. "Why not just..."

"What? Kill him? The Joker is as much a victim of the accident that made him as any of his victims that came later. He was just a minor criminal. One needing to be caught and punished for his deeds to be sure. But not someone deserving death."

"You don't believe he is responsible for what has happened since his rebirth as the Joker?" Dr. Possible asked.

"Well what about your parents? He killed them before he went into the vat, why doesn't he deserve death for that?" Monique added.

Bruce jaw tightened and he frowned. "I have no proof he was the one that was responsible for my parents death. He was about the right age to have been the punk that killed them but all I have for evidence is the memory of a child and an odd saying I've never heard anyone else use. And even if I was certain he was the one that killed them, I am not an executioner!"

Kim in the back seat nodded her head. "Killing never solves anything. You are absolutely right."

Monique snorted and said quietly to herself. "Except if you had killed him earlier, he wouldn't be around to harm people now, would he?"

AAAAAAAAAA

With The Joker and Drakken in their rent-a-lair

AAAAAAAAAA

As the Joker sat in a chair so large it could only be called a throne, Drakken stood slightly behind the chair and pointed a remote control at a TV the Joker had him steal earlier. Simple petty theft of a TV. _"How the mighty have fallen."_ Drakken silently thought to himself. _"What a waste that a super genius like me is reduced to stealing TVs. That is what I had Shego for." _

The Joker shot out a hand and caught Drakken by the arm as the channel surfing finally found a news report on the killing of the paparazzi earlier that evening.

As the report continued and again and again the news reporters said Ron Stoppable in connection to the incident and the Joker's name was not even mentioned, the Joker's grip continued to tighten on Drakken's arm. Even though Drakken had forgone the expensive suits that Ron had purchased him while he was staying with them and had returned to wearing his typical heavy blue lab coat and the Joker was wearing purple leather gloves, the maniac's grip was slowly crushing Drakken's arm. Finally Drakken couldn't stop a whimper.

Drakken had learned early on with the Joker that his typical whining didn't have the desired affect and only encouraged the Joker to punish him more. The Joker was such a sadist that he made Shego on her worse day seem like Mother Teresa.

Finally the Joker hurled Drakken's arm from his grasp so suddenly and forcibly it caused the remote in Drakken's now numb hand to fly out and disappear somewhere among the boxes of the rent-a-lair.

"What kind of backwards world do I find myself in... When a red headed, freckled faced boy can steal my thunder?" The Joker roared. Leaping to his feet he began to pace as Drakken tried to hide behind the throne without appearing to try to hide from the Joker.

Drakken had witnessed the Joker drawing and writing in a small notebook and once when the white faced maniac hadn't been paying attention, Drakken got a hold of the notebook to see what the insane criminal had been doing. The plans and diagrams of torture devices and 'pranks' the Joker kept in that notebook haunted Drakken every time he closed his eyes. The fact that most of the recent designs had a suspiciously blue skinned man in them only added to Drakken's growing horror.

Drakken gave a squeak of pure terror as the Joker reached into his jacket and pulled a ridiculously large gun from it and pointed it at the television. When the Joker pulled the trigger instead of a bullet, what looked like a wad of cream, like a miniature cream pie shot out and splattered the front of the TV. Sighing in relief, Drakken started towards the TV to clean the mess off of the screen when suddenly the white stuff started smoking. He only had moments to dive behind the throne as the television exploded leaving nothing behind but a smoking crater in the cement floor.

"Well, there goes another security deposit." Drakken muttered.

The next thing Drakken knew was the Joker had his hand around his throat and the impossibly strong psychotic clown was holding him effortlessly in the air single handedly. "You are going to lead me to this Ron Stoppable and you are going to do it now!"

"But I don't know where he's at!" Drakken managed to squeak out.

"You know where that base in the desert he calls home is!"

"I've told you that it will be surrounded by my, I mean his Bebes! They'll cut us to ribbons before we even get close to the place!"

The Joker spun around and slammed Drakken down onto his throne. Leaning close the Joker let his fetid breath waft over Drakken's face as he smiled at him. Drakken nearly wet his pants as the mental image of a shark about to chomp down came to his mind.

"Then find a way to overcome those toys of yours, cause we are going to pay a visit to Mr. Stoppable and I'm going to get my Harley back, kill Ivy and anyone else there and we are going to do it soon!" The Joker then spun away from him and stormed off. Drakken could hear the clown moving around deeper inside the rent-a-lair as he mumbled to himself about what he would do once he got his Harley back and when he started laughing, that was when Drakken did loose control and wet his pants.

AAAAAAAAAA

Megan Orla's apartment

AAAAAAAAAA

After coming out of the bar and finding Du's car missing, and Du made her check the parking lot seven times before he accepted his car had been stolen, she finally managed to convince/manhandle (or should that be womanhandled?) Du into her own car and drove him back to her apartment. Even dead drunk Du had wanted to file an immediate stolen car report with the police but a strategic unbuttoning of several of buttons on Megan's blouse had finally convinced him that it could wait till morning.

Megan couldn't care less that Du had lost his car and was more concerned about getting him on record about Global Justice while he was still drunk enough he wasn't aware of what he was doing. She had no doubts that once Du sobered up he would also clam up and she would never get another chance with him again.

And so the night had gone. Every time Du stopped slurring his words and a certain sharpness started coming back to his eyes, Megan would ply him with booze she kept around her apartment and to keep him from getting suspicious, she joined him in drinking. And when Du made motions of getting up and staggering away? Well Megan simply lost another piece of clothing which kept even the inebriated Du firmly on her couch.

By late morning the day after, Du had filled no less than eight cassette tapes of slightly rambling, slightly slurred but completely damning evidence about Global Justice's general dealings with the world and the frame up of Ron Stoppable in specific.

As consciousness returned to Megan, she found herself lying on her couch completely nude with an equally naked Will Du on top of her. Will had himself wrapped firmly around Megan with his head lying on her right breast and one hand sleepily kneaded the other breast.

Megan quickly searched her own slightly muddled memories, trying to remember all of the night's events and she finally recalled what had lead to this moment. It had been after the last tape had been filled and she had ran out of booze. Even though Du had by this time become so drunk that Megan doubted he could hardly think, let alone move but he still made comments about needing to leave and return to Global Justice. Megan removed her last piece of clothing, her panties and weaving slightly herself she had asked Du if he could really bring himself to leave this, meaning her nude body. Du with a snarl drunkenly replied that he was sick and tired of redheads teasing him and had grabbed Megan and pulled her down on the couch and pinned her there. While Megan had halfheartedly struggled to get up, Du somehow managed to shrug out of his clothes and before Megan knew was going on, they were having sex.

"_And even snockered, he wasn't half bad."_ Megan thought to herself as she lightly petted Du's head. All in all it was such a good night Megan didn't even have it in her heart to be annoyed at Du when several times during their lovemaking he called out another woman's name.

"_Whoever this 'Kim' is, Willy really must have it bad for her."_ Megan smiled but then frowned when she remembered that several times he had also called for a director.

"_Wonder if Willy here has done any work in pornos? The way he kept yelling for another take from the director."_

It would be much later after Du left and after many cups of coffee and replaying the tapes recorded that night that Megan would remember that Du had mentioned that he worked with Kim Possible the once teen heroine and the head of Global Justice was named Dr. Director and put it all together but at the moment Megan could be forgiven for a bit of early morning fuzziness herself.

"_I'll never mix vodka and tequila again."_ Megan thought to herself as she struggled to slide out from underneath Du. It wasn't like she didn't want to spend the rest of the day under the naked Du. He was quite handsome and being perfectly still when you have a class-1 hangover was always a good thing to do. It was that she worried how Du would respond once he woke up and his mind cleared a bit and he realized he had been tricked, plied with booze and remembered that not only was his car missing and that he was also AWOL from his post at Global Justice but that he had talked last night while she had used a tape recorder.

"_Reminds me..." _Megan thought to herself, wincing as her mental voice caused her hangover to flare. _"I've got to either find some place to hide the tapes and recorder or mail them to myself to keep Du from destroying them. That is if he even remembers what we did last night."_

To be on the safe side, Megan slowly eased the watch off of the arm of the hand that was currently playing with her breast. She remembered from last night that Du had drunkenly bragged that the watch contained a powerful taser in it and he was an expert shot with it. Megan didn't want to see if Du was still an expert with it when he was recovering from a hangover or for that matter what it felt to be tased on top of her own hangover.

AAAAAAAAAA

Dr. Director: Her office at Global Justice headquarters

AAAAAAAAAA

Dr. Director opened her one good eye and let out a massive yawn that she would have been mortified if anyone had seen it but she knew the chances of that were practically nil. Everyone at Global Justice knew not to bother her when her office door was closed.

Stretching out her muscles she let out a very unfeminine grunt at the stiffness and soreness of her back. While she had often slept on the couch in her office rather than going home while in the midst of an emergency, it still did not make her couch in any way more softer or comfortable.

Casting a bleary eye at the fish bowl sitting on her desk a few feet away she asked the fish Elsa. "Why don't I just have a mattress put in here if I'm going to continue to use my office to sleep in?"

The fish just looked at her and opened and shut its mouth several times the way fish do.

"Yeah, you are right. The other agents seeing a bed in my office might get the wrong idea." Dr. Director replied as if the fish had answered her.

Raising a hand to her face she pinched the bridge of her nose. "I'm losing it. I'm having a conversation with a fish. I really need to get out of the office more and talk to some sane people now and then."

Getting up from the couch she stretched and once again winced when several distinct pops were heard coming from her back. "I don't suppose you know what time it is?" She asked the fish.

To her surprise the fish swam till it seemed to be looking at something on her desk. Walking over she realized the fish seemed to be looking at her watch she had taken off last night when she decided to lie down, just for a moment of course. "Either I really am losing it, or you are more than just a simple fish Elsa." She told the fish suspiciously.

The fish once again swam until it was looking up at her, hovered in mid fishbowl as if it was considering her and then lazily started swimming randomly.

Dr. Director continued to stare at the small fish for a moment before shrugging and opening her desk drawer she pulled out a small container of fish food and sprinkled it into the bowl. The fish however ignored the food for a moment and Dr. Director had the sneaky suspicion that the thing was laughing at her.

"Yeah, have to get out one in while. Maybe a nice dinner, catch an opera." Dr. Director muttered to herself as she pulled her watch on and glanced at it. The watch said 3:00 and at first Dr. Director thought to herself that explained why she still felt a little tired and dreary. It was 3 in the morning. It was when she glanced at the watch again and noticed a tiny p.m. To the right of the 3 that her eyes widened.

"It's 3 in the afternoon?" Dr. Director asked and raced over to the door to her office and jerked the door open.

"Status report!" She barked at a passing agent and wished she had gotten that coffee before she started.

The agent blinked at her and then replied. "Everything is quiet as far as I know."

"That's hardly a proper status report." Dr. Director nearly growled. Yes she was being a bit of a bitch but waking up on a couch to find you have slept most of the day away tended to make someone that way. "Where's Du?" She asked surprised the officious agent hadn't knocked on her door already with some minor but to him vitally important bit of protocol or information.

The agent under her glare glanced around in surprise and then replied. "Um, I haven't seen him ma'am. Not since last night."

Dr. Director gritted her teeth. "One: Find Du and have him report to me immediately. Two: Where is the Batman?" She held up a hand as the agent once again looked helplessly around the main operations room. "Find him!"

The agent started to open his mouth again. "That is still part of Two. Three: Get me a report on the status of our guests Dr. Possible and Monique. I hope at least someone made sure they got some breakfast and lunch?" Before the agent could respond Dr. Director fired another order at him. "Five: Find out if the police have located Ron Stoppable and if not get me Wade online and see if he has some trick to finding the man he hasn't bothered to tell us yet. Six: Where is Kim Possible?"

Dr. Director reached up and rubbed her eyepatch as once again the agent in front of her started looking around. "Find her. She is probably still with her mother which if you'll remember was part of order three."

The agent looking like he wanted to open a hole and crawl into it waited a moment longer.

"Well?" Dr. Director barked at him.

"Um, is that all ma'am?"

"No. Seven: My title is Dr. Director. Not ma'am. And finally Eight: Have someone bring me a coffee pot full of coffee."

"Yes ma'am... Er I mean Dr. Director! Right away!" As the agent started to run out of the room, Dr. Director heard her stomach growl. "And a addition to number eight. Bring me some donuts to go with that coffee!" She yelled at the agent who turned his run into a full blown sprint.

Less than two minutes later the agent she had barked at was back with her coffee and donuts. Taking the serving tray he was carrying from him she poured herself a cup and took a bite of donut. She had the feeling she was going to need both by the way the man was sweating in front of her.

"Well? What of the other orders?" She finally asked.

The man looking like he was facing his own firing squad took a deep breath. "No one seems to know where the Batman or Du are. We can't get Wade online, perhaps he left his computer room? And I've called the guards stationed outside the VIP suite to find out if they know where Kim Possible are."

Dr. Director could feel a migraine coming on. "Okay first, Wade? He never leaves his computers. Second, I didn't say get the guards outside of the suite we have Dr. Possible in, I just said to check up on..." Dr. Director stopped as two agent she recognized as being on the roster for guard duty of their special guests came up.

"Keep trying to get Wade online." She told the first agent as she waved him off to address the guard detail. "How are Dr. Possible and Monique this..." Dr. Director glanced at her watch to remind herself that it was now mid afternoon and not morning. "Day." She finished.

"Um, we don't know Dr. Director. No one answered our knocks and we didn't want to disturb them."

The migraine in her head suddenly focused on her empty eye socket covered by her eyepath. Something Dr. Director knew from experience meant her day was only going to get worse.

"Follow me!" She growled as threw the last bit of her uneaten donut on the tray and took one last gulp of the lukewarm coffee. Making a beeline for the VIP suite she practically had the guard detail running to keep up with her brisk pace. Stopping in front of the door she looked at disbelief at it as the guards finally caught up with her. Taking a deep breath she pointed at the door. "Gentlemen. What is wrong with this picture?" She asked them through gritted teeth.

"Um, Dr. Director? I don't understand." One them stated looking in confusion at his fellow agent.

Dr. Director was not a woman prone to overt acts of aggression but she couldn't stop herself as she lashed out with a closed backhand hitting the agent in the gut causing him to double over in pain. She then reached up and catching the man by the back of his neck she dragged him down till his eye was level with the missing doorknob and lock of the door. "Where is the lock to this room?" Dr. Director asked in a voice barely above a whisper which caused the agent to fear he might wet himself at any moment.

"Um, I don't know?" The agent barely managed to mumble back in response.

"I've noticed that far too many of my agents don't remember how to give a proper report." Dr. Director replied in an almost conversational tone. "I don't recall um being a proper English grammar word let alone a proper way to report to a superior officer." She fixed the other standing guard with a glare from her one good eye that made the man want to turn tail and run for it. "Now, give me a proper report on your actions!" She nearly hissed at him.

"Yes, Dr. Director!" The man said snapping to rigid attention. "At 22:00 hours we reported to outside this door to relive the agents standing guard..."

"Were they at their post?" Dr. Director asked interrupting the agent.

"No, Dr. Director..." The agent standing at attention replied as he started to sweat a little.

"But that is not unusual." The agent she was still holding with his face near the missing doorknob replied instead of the agent she had been addressing. "Often when it nears the time for a guard change over the guards on duty will slip out early knowing the relief is about arrive."

Dr. Director jerked the man's head by the hold she had on the back of his neck causing him to headbutt the door. "Is that proper protocol?" She growled.

"No. But that's just the way we do things." The incredibly stupid agent said almost in a pouting tone.

Dr. Director jerked once again causing him to headbutt the door even harder causing it to swing open. Without a second thought Dr. Director hurled them an into the empty room. Turning she glared at the standing attention agent. "Get inside and help your brain deficient partner to search that room!"

As the agent nodded his head nervously and stepped past her. "We'll discuss the punishment for dereliction of duty and failure to follow proper procedures later." She promised.

The two agents made quick work of searching the main sitting area of the suite without finding anything and as Dr. Director followed them, they opened the door to the bathroom area. As the door swung open all three of them witnessed the missing guard detail with their hands tied around the bathroom stool causing them to look like they were hugging it. Torn towels tied around their mouths had kept them from yelling.

Dr. Director reached up and stroked her eyepatch. "Why do I have the feeling this was the brainchild of that girl Monique?" She asked the room. The two tied agents lowered their heads to lightly thunk the closed seat of the stool.

"Dr. Director? Should we check the room assigned to the Batman?"

Dr. Director sighed. "You can if you want to but I'm betting the room will be empty. He was probably the one to overcome the guards. While Kim Possible could easily do it. She would have no need of using some kind of acid to eat through the lock of the room's door."

"Yes Dr. Director." The agent replied and then shifted back and forth on the balls of his feet. He wasn't sure if she was telling him it was unnecessary to check the Batman's room or not. Deciding to err on the side of being safe, he finally turned and hurried out of the room.

Dr. Director turned to look at the remaining standing agent, the one she had used his head as a battering ram to open the door. When the man did nothing but stare dumbly back at her, she reached over and pulled a butterfly knife from a pouch on his belt and walking over she expertly flicked the knife open and bending at the waist she slashed through the rope tying the two sitting guards to the bathroom commode.

The two prone agents removed the gags in their mouths and looked up at he sheepishly.

"Batman?" Dr. Director asked.

"He was the one to get the drop on us but it was the black girl who tied us up like this." One of them confirmed Dr. Director's assumption.

Putting a hand to her face she scrubbed at her good eye before glaring at the agent she had battered down the door with. "Go to the underground parking lot and see which car they stole to escape. The way my day is going, I have a pretty good idea whose it will be."

The man turned and ran as if the devil himself was after him.

Dr. Director looked at the two guards that had been tied and were getting up muttering about one young black woman in less than complimentary way.  
"Think when he finds its my car they stole he'll have enough guts to report back to me in person?" Dr. Director asked them casually.

The two looked away from her nervously and tried to ease past her to get out of the bathroom.

Dr. Director sighed, before yelling at their retreating backs. "AND WHERE THE HELL IS DU?"

.

.

.


	31. Chapter 31

Partners in Crime

By Weirdbard

Chapter 31

.

After steady driving with no sleep, and having to tap into his mystical monkey powers to able do so, Ron finally arrived at the underground dwelling in Nevada that he once called home around three in the morning. Ron was beyond exhausted but he knew his task was just beginning. He still had to sneak the two damaged Bebes inside the underground home and to where ever the Bebe assembly line was located inside to have them repaired and to do so he only had to get past three well experienced criminals, a woman that even though was newly started, was as cautious as the professionals and three ninjas trained to a razor's edge and... A small naked mole rat that Ron had never been able to sneak past even once in his life when he had been a teen.

"Yeah, a piece of cake." Ron muttered to himself as he helped the damaged Bebes from the car and prepared to lead them to the small ferry boat they used to cross the man made moat that surrounded the island that was the entrance to the home.

Even damaged and having to rely on their leader's help, the Bebes in his care were as silent as the wind blowing across the sand dunes behind them as he got them in the boat and rather than using the electric motor, poled the boat across the water to the other side.

Extending his monkey enhanced senses to the utmost Ron searched for the ninjas, and to his surprise could locate none of them. Neither the males whom Ron previously had no problems sensing or even Yori, whom while Ron wasn't able to locate her preciously before, he at least got a slight feeling but this time there was nothing.

"Really hope Shego didn't kill them." Ron once again muttered to himself but only half jokingly.

The absolute silence of the place was worrying at Ron's nerves, even though at 3 am it could be expected that everyone should be asleep. What if something had happened and the place had been abandoned? What if Global Justice had found his place already and had taken the others captive? What if Drakken had seeked his revenge and the girls had been killed?

Shouldn't there at least be a few of the Bebes he had left behind around?

When one suddenly and silently appeared in front of him as if summoned by his thoughts Ron barely resisted the urge to yell in startlement. Lowering his voice to a whisper he quietly asked. "Is everything okay here?"

"Yes Leader." The Bebe replied in as low a voice.

"Where are the girls?"

"If the Leader is referring to Shego, Harley Quinn, Poison Ivy and Bonnie, they are all gathered in the greenhouse. The female known as Yori has left with the two male ninjas and are not currently in the dwelling."

Ron reached up and scratched his head but then gave a slight shrug thinking the ninjas must have been recalled back to Japan for some reason and didn't bother to ask the Bebe why they were not in the underground house. He also decided for himself that his ladies must have taken to sleeping together inside the greenhouse. It made sense to him as he knew Ivy didn't feel comfortable anywhere else and surely after his leaving the others had sought comfort in one another's presence so they had probably taken to sleeping together in the greenhouse. Ron was also greatly relieved as this meant he might actually have a shot at getting the two damaged Bebes inside for repairs and sneaking away without his ladies being any the wiser.

Ron with a small start realized he no longer even had to enter the underground dwelling. Wasn't he talking to one of the damaged Bebes' sisters right now? He could simply give the order for the Bebe in front of him to take her damaged sisters down to be repaired and leave. But just as Ron was opening his mouth to give the order the Bebe in front of him said. "This Bebe must return to her duties now Leader." And in so saying she disappeared with high pitch 'zing' noise and was gone before Ron could tell her to stay.

"Its never easy is it?" Ron quietly asked no one.

"Explain Leader. What is not easy?" The damaged Bebe with her hand resting on his shoulder for guidance asked. Behind her the second damaged Bebe had her hand on her 'sister's' shoulder for guidance.

"Never mind." Ron said. "Um, where is the Bebe assembly line located so once we get inside I can guide you there?"

"Third door to the left after entering the sleeping chamber hallway. It was a storage cubicle but Bebes excavated it to lead down another level and installed the assembly line and repair facility."

Ron nodded his head and then remembered that the Bebes he was leading couldn't see. "Right. Let's get this over with so I can..." Ron choked with emotion thinking that after getting so close to his ladies he had to leave once again before they knew he was near. He had vowed he would protect his ladies from a world that would destroy him and anyone connected to him and he hadn't changed his mind, no matter how much pain it caused him.

As the elevator lowered him and the damaged Bebes silently down into the underground house's living room area, Ron thanked God and the original designers of the house that the elevator was hydraulic in nature rather than a noisy electric cable driven system.

As Ron straining his senses lead the Bebes through the dark living room area, he couldn't resist a glance over to where a lighter patch of darkness lead to the hole in the ceiling where the second elevator went to Ivy's greenhouse.

The desire to sneak a peek at his sleeping ladies was so strong Ron almost couldn't resist it but knowing what light sleepers Shego, Ivy and Harley were, Ron decided not to risk it. Besides, seeing his loves would only make the task of once again leaving that much harder on him.

As Ron silently entered the passage leading to the hidden Bebe assembly line and the door to it shut, the light in the greenhouse came on and a few moments later the elevator that serviced it silently rose up.

Ron who had not seen the Bebe assembly line before looked on in amazement as the corridor just big enough for three Bebe's to walk abreast in opened up into a very large cavern. Along one cavern wall was the assembly line itself with various mechanical arms tipped with ominous looking claws, drill tips and what Ron hazard a guess were welding tips. The machinery was quiet and still as the last of the ultra Bebes had been created a while ago when the Luna stone had been used up and Ron had given no orders for any more standard Bebes to be created.

To one side of the cavern several Ultra Bebes were standing on either side of a pedestal where what looked like a semi clear beach ball rested. The 'ball' rested on a ring of circuitry and lights could be seen blinking on and off inside the ball. As Ron walked up with his damaged Bebes, a whitish globe rotated inside the ball until it was looking at him.

"Greetings Leader Ron. I am the Bebe Hive Mind. How may we help you Leader."

Ron thought to himself shouldn't it already know? But he replied anyway. "The two Bebes with me were injured when Dr. Drakken used something called a magnetic pulse weapon on them. They can't see and their connection with their sisters were damaged."

One of the Bebes standing next to the hive mind stepped away and walking over to Ron lead the two damaged Bebes towards the equipment near the back wall.

"They shall be repaired." The Hive mind intoned.

Ron frowned. "I was meaning to ask about that. If they are made with a material that can't be scratched, how will you repair them?"

"As only a diamond can scratch or cut another diamond so is the Luna Stone composite the Ultra Bebes are manufactured with. The tools on the assembly line are made of the same material and while the outer shells of the Bebes are made of the Luna Stone composite it would have been impractical as well as wasteful for internal circuits or equipment to be made of the same material Leader. Therefore, a Luna Stone composite drill will drill a small hole to the side of the damaged Bebes' heads and nanities will be introduce to repair the damage. Nanities are..."

"I know. Microscopic robots. Wade once explained them to me." Ron said. "Well actually he had to explain it several different times before I got the idea but I know what they are now."

"Correct Leader Ron. The nanities will harvest the damaged material inside the Bebes, deconstruct it into it's subatomic materials and then reassemble it to facilitate repairs. The process will take 20 minutes to accomplish at which point the nanities will be removed from the repaired Bebes."

Ron folded his arms as he listened to the Hive mind explain. "Why?" He asked as it finished.

"Please clarify question Leader Ron. Why what?"

"Why remove them? I mean they don't take up hardly any space inside the Bebe do they? Why not leave them inside but kind of turned off until they are needed? That way when a Bebe is damaged they can be turned on again and start repairs immediately rather than have a downed Bebe until they can be returned here." Ron paused for a second before nodding. "Yeah, I know. Stupid question. There is probably an excellent reason why they can't be left inside the Bebes."

Lights flashed in rapid sequence inside the Hive mind as it thought over Ron's question.

"Actually Leader Ron, there is no valid reason why they are removed except that is how the Creator Dr. Drakken created the system. Your suggestion is logical and efficient. With the Leader Ron's approval all Ultra Bebes will be rotated until every unit have repair nanities installed in their systems."

Ron nodded his head. "Make it so." To himself he whispered. "I always wanted to say that."

To the Hive Mind he said. "I've also had some ideas while driving my damaged girls back. Drakken got the drop on us with that magnetic thingy and blinded and kind of deafened them to as they were no longer able to talk to the other Bebes."

"Correct Leader Ron. What is the nature of your query?"

"I'm never going to get you Bebes to just call me Ron am I?" Ron asked not expecting an answer. "I was wondering if there can't be some kind of magnetic covering put over the eyes to protect them? I know back when Wade had to use those big clunky monitors of his before he switched to flat screens he had these thick dark screens that went over them to protect him from the magnetic stuff they gave off."

"The Ron is leader of the Bebes hence he his Leader Ron." The Hive Mind stated not realizing Ron's first question was rhetorical. "Magnetic shielding filters..." The Hive Mind's lights flashed as it thought over Ron's suggestion and then it replied. "Such a system would reduce Bebe optical scanners efficiency by 40 percent."

Ron shook his head. He knew the Bebes prized efficiency and optimal operating. "Well how about this then? Can, um, magnetic shielding filters be made like... Say sunglasses and when it looks like someone is going to use a magnetic weapon thing against them, the Bebes can simply put the sunglasses on until the attack is over? That way their eyes are protected from being damaged and they can still take the sunglasses off after the attack to keep 100 percent eye efficiency.

The Hive Mind's lights once again flashed rapidly and the super computer wasted a millisecond debating with itself if it should correct Ron's statement of eyes rather that optical scanners before deciding it was a mute point as both human and machine understood what he meant.

Suddenly a monitor on an extending arm came out of the base it was setting on and rose up till it was level with Ron's eyes. On the screen was a close up of a Bebe face with a visor across the eyes looking like something out of Star Trek.

Ron frowned. "Well that's the general idea but I don't like how it ruins the appearance of the Bebe," Reaching over Ron touched the screen and noticed it left a glowing mark. "Can I draw on this screen?" He asked.

"Correct Leader Ron. The monitor was created for the sole purpose of design work on Bebes. Please explain aesthetic quality of Bebes."

"Well I mean Drakken designed you all with a kind of 50's style and the visor you have designed looks too futuristic. I mean its not that important but I think something more like..." Ron said as he concentrated for a moment and when he took his finger away from the screen the visor look was gone to be replaced by what looked like the oversized sunglasses that were popular in the 1950's. Large round sunglasses with a slight flair on the top near the ear pieces.

"Design is acceptable. Protective optical scanner gear can be made internally to Bebes and be deployed when danger of magnetic attack is imminent."

Ron thought over what the Hive Mind said trying to decipher it. "So you mean the glasses will be housed inside their heads and pop out when they need them and go back inside when they don't so they won't have the hassle of taking them out of a pocket and putting them on and taking them off?"

"Correct leader Ron."

"Okay that just leaves their connection with their sisters." Ron mused to himself. "What if we did something like this?" Ron asked as he once again reached out to the design monitor. Quickly he sketched a pair of earrings on the Bebe on the screen. "We put magnetic shielding shutters inside the Bebes separating their communication gear from the outside and we put these earrings that will act as the communication receiver transmitting thing. A magnetic pulse disables the earrings, the Bebe after the attack can open the shutters inside and switch to the internal communication circuits and get back in touch with her sisters. We can even have every Bebe carry another pair of earrings in a protected case so they can switch out the damaged earrings after the attack."

"If all Bebes are to be equipped with nanite repair facilities such measures will not be necessary."

Ron nodded. "True. But you said repairs could take up to 20 minutes. This way the Bebe will not be impaired for any length of time at all and isn't..." Ron verbally stumbled. "Um, what is it called. Reduncy? Isn't that considered a good thing?"

"Redundancy?" The Hive Mind queried. "The addition of multiple circuits or equipment to insure operating efficiency under all conditions."

"Yeah, that."

The Hive Mind lights flashed for several long moments. "Creator Drakken did not consider such measures necessary."

Ron gave a shrug. "Yeah but Dr. D. also thought if any of you were damaged he would just scrap you and create a new one. I would never scrap any of the Bebes and I don't want to see them in discomfort any longer than they have to be."

The Hive Mind thought about reminding the leader that Bebes were machines and did not feel discomfort but what was coming from the reestablished link with the now repaired Bebes could very easily be described as discomfort as they shared memories of what it was like to be blind and out of communication with their fellow Bebes as they traveled with the Leader.

Ron waiting for a reply from the Hive Mind started feeling once again self conscious. "Yeah, you're right. It would probably be a waste of time..."

"Leader Ron cares for the condition of his Bebes not because of what they can accomplish for him but simply because he worries about them?"

"Well, yeah of course." Ron said a bit confused. "Why wouldn't I worry about you all? You are as much a a part of my family as Rufus or my ladies."

"Leader Ron has once again proven that he is the best leader of the Bebes." The Hive Mind surprised him by suddenly saying.

Not sure how to respond to that Ron just said. "Speaking of Rufus and my ladies, I need to get out of here before they learn I'm here."

"No Leader Ron." The Hive Mind answered him.

Ron held up a hand. "I know. I know. Its not right what I'm putting them through but you have to understand. I love them. I have to protect them. I..." Ron paused as he noticed the eyes of the Bebe that had remained beside the Hive Mind all this time was looking past him.

"They are right behind me, aren't they?"

"Yes Leader Ron." The Bebe answered him.

Ron took a deep gulp and slowly turned.

Near the entrance to the cavern, Ivy in her green costume leaned back against the wall with her arms folded. To anyone else she would have looked almost bored but Ron could easily see that her folded arms were tight against her body and for all her casual relaxed look, she was actually quite tense.

Next to her, Harley was standing wearing nothing but one of Ron's shirts. Her hair once again in pigtails that almost made Ron smile if it wasn't for that fact that Harley was frowning at him

Glancing at her long lean legs Ron had a moment's trouble continuing to look around the cavern but a moment later he spotted Bonnie standing a little in the shadows. She was staring at him with shiny eyes and Ron never felt more like a heel than he had at that moment.

Continuing, Ron spotted Shego, who was a few feet away from him and in the lead of the group of his ladies. While she didn't have her hands flaring with her power, they were clenched into fists at her sides.

Standing on her shoulder glaring at him was Rufus.

"Um, hi guys. Fancy meeting you here." Ron nervously tried to joke but the smile on his face dried up at the glare he was getting from Shego. He was about to try again when a group of Bebes came down the stairwell behind the ladies and walked past him towards the Bebe assembly/ repair line. Ron thought to himself that it almost looked like they were glaring at him as well. Which of course was silly as their faces were sculpted in steel and couldn't change expression.

"_It's just my guilty conscious."_ Ron thought to himself.

As Ron tried to decide what the say to his ladies, Bonnie moved past Shego to stand in front of him. As Ron opened his mouth to say something to her, he was shocked as she hauled off and slapped him in the face.

"You left me!" Bonnie snarled/cried.

Ron opened his mouth to try and defend himself when Bonnie slapped the other side of his face. "I worship the ground you walk on and you left me!"

"He left all of us." Shego's cold voice rang out behind her.

Ron tried once again to say something and this time when Bonnie tried to slap him again he reached out and caught her arm. "Am I even going to be allowed to explain why?"

"Do you even need to?" Ivy's sarcastic voice was heard. "You are the big man and thought you had to protect the little women."

"That's not fair Ivy." Ron said glancing in her direction. "Yes. I left to protect you all. I didn't do it cause I'm the man and you are the women. I did it cause the world is after me, not you. You want to know what I was thinking? When I heard the news compared me to Adolf Hitler, one thought hit me and hit me hard." Ron sighed and realizing he was still holding Bonnie by the arm he almost released her until he caught the blazing look in her eyes and decided it was safer to hang on to her. Taking her arm he gently lowered her hand and looked at it as if seeing it for the first time.

"I was never very good in school as Bonnie here can tell you but one subject I did well in surprisingly was history. I guess it is because I always have had the ability to kick my mind out of gear, daydream and still be able to recite back what someone has said to me. It used to drive Kim..." Ron paused and glancing at Shego he decided it was safer not to bring up Kim. "Anyway, one day in history class they went over the Lincoln assassination..." Ron paused and looked to Harley and Ivy. "Was Lincoln assassinated in your dimension too?"

"Yeah, yeah." Harley answered him. "Booth shot him in a theater while he was watching a play. What does that have to do with why you left us?"

Ron nodded before continuing. "Well in history class that day they were talking about how a bunch of people were gathered up after Booth had been killed. One of them was a woman named Mary Surratt. They were tried and found to be guilty of being accomplices of Booth's. I remember that Mr. Barkin said there was some doubt whether Mary was guilty of actually being an accomplice or that the conspirators had just used her boarding house to plan it but she was found guilty in any case. Barkin took great pleasure in describing the executions that followed the trial. The conspirators were to be hanged in public." Ron said as he stared at Bonnie's hand. "Barkin kept saying how right before they hung her she kept begging them to not let her fall. 'Please don't let me fall.' Barkin would say again and again in a girlish voice."

Ron shuddered and then looked up and slowly he looked at each and everyone of them in the eyes.

"When I heard the world had declared I was a monster all I could see in my mind was you all standing on a scaffold alongside of me to be executed." Ron's voice broke at the end and he looked down once again at Bonnie's hand. "I can't let you fall. I can't let any of you fall for me."

Bonnie who hadn't struggled as Ron held her arm, took her free hand and slowly raised his face to gaze at her. "Master, don't you understand? We've already fallen for you."

Ron glanced up sharply at her and then looked to the other women. They were all nodding. "What she said." Harley stated.

"Don't you get it Ron?" Ivy asked finally standing up away from the wall she had been leaning on. "We're not innocent. Harley and I have committed crimes that make everything you have done up to this point seem like a joke. If her and I get caught and they decide to execute us, it really is no more than what we deserve." Ivy was quiet for a moment before continuing. "But I would rather die defiant to the end with you by my side than to live to an old age knowing you sacrificed yourself for me."

Harley frowned at her lover. "What she means Ron is we don't want to lose you."

"Isn't that what I said?" Ivy said shooting Harley an annoyed look.

"Well, kind of Red. But it came out sounding more like you didn't want to be beholden to him, not so much you don't want to lose him."

Ivy who had unfolded her arms when she left the wall, folded them once again. "He knows what I mean." She said still annoyed.

Ron looked over to Shego. "Do you even need me to put it into words?" Shego asked. Her hands still clenched into fists at her side. "I care for you, you lunkhead. I care for you more than I have ever cared for anyone in my life. You want to know what I would do if they captured you and executed you for your supposed crimes? I would organize the Bebes and launch a massive attack and burn everything and everyone to the ground that had a hand in your execution and I wouldn't care if I survived the attack or not!"

Ron could feel a lump in his throat threatening to choke him with emotion but he couldn't just let it go. He looked at the arm of Bonnie he was still holding. "And what about you Bon Bon? The only crime you have committed is robbing a museum. Do you really want to risk dying for that? You can walk away. You don't have to die..."

Bonnie shook her arm so fiercely Ron released her. Dropping to her knees in front of Ron she looked up at him.

"If you are going to send me away, then just kill me now." She finally said.

"Bonnie..." Ron tried.

"No! Listen to me Master! Everyone I have ever loved leaves me sooner or later. Maybe I deserve to be alone? I don't know but I do know that I love you Ron! And if you too are going to walk away and leave me in the dust... Then be merciful and just kill me now cause I can't survive another person I love leaving me."

Ron sighed. "I'm not going to kill you Bonnie... And I'm not going to leave you. Never again." Ron looked over to the other women. "That goes for all of you. I will never again try to leave you to protect you again. For good or bad I guess we're in this together till the end." Ron then bent down and taking Bonnie is his arms he helped her up from the floor.

The women started to move towards him for a group hug but Ron noticed that Rufus was still looking pissed beyond belief. "I'm sorry I left you behind little buddy." He told the naked mole rat.

Rufus rapidly squeaked something that Bonnie, Ivy and Harley didn't get but Shego turned her head to look at the small creature sitting on her shoulder. "What do you mean you can completely understand him leaving us but how could he leave you?" Rufus took one look at the annoyed Shego and leaping off her shoulder he ran over to Ron and raced up him to sit on his shoulder and shoot a fearful look at Shego.

Ron didn't want to ruin what was becoming a heart felt moment but he couldn't resist chuckling. "So how do we celebrate my returning to the fold?" He finally asked the women.

"A week long fun time!" Harley said with a grin.

A grin that reminded Ron of one killer clown he had rescued Dr. Possible from. Should he tell Harley and the rest about the Joker now and kill everyone's good mood or wait? As Bonnie cuddled into his side like she was hoping to crawl inside of him, Ron made up his mind. It wouldn't hurt to wait a bit before telling them. After all Drakken wasn't crazy enough to lead the Joker to his home where Bebes were waiting to defend it.

"Ladies." He said gesturing for Shego, Harley, Ivy and Bonnie towards the stairs leading upstairs. Moving over just a bit, Ron and his group of human ladies made room for the steady stream of Bebes as they came down the staircase to be upgraded to the new designs care of Ron.

Ron was slightly surprised as all of the metallic women nodded their heads at him in passing. Looking back over his shoulder as he started to climb the stairs he called out towards the Hive Mind. "I think we're going to be busy for a while but if something comes up that you think needs my attention call me."

The Hive Mind glowed softly for a moment. "Understood Leader... Have fun."

Ron almost did a double take at the Hive Mind's parting shot but was stopped as Bonnie on one side and Shego on his other practically pulled him up the stairs and out of sight.

AAAAAAAAA

Global Justice:

AAAAAAAAA

Dr. Director was wishing that her own edict about lethal force didn't apply to her and that she had a gun and could shoot someone. It was finally confirmed that not only had the Batman stolen her car along with Kim Possible, Dr. Possible and Monique but that the man must have realized she had a tracker in the car and had disabled it. With no other options left to her, Dr. Director had picked up a phone and... Called the local police and reported her car as being stolen.

Here she was head of one of the largest 'police' force in the world, even if it was secret, and she had to rely on Middletown police force to try and recover her car for her.

Not only were her two best agents missing in action. Not only was her car stolen out from under her very nose, almost literally as the underground parking lot though several floors down was almost directly under her office, but Wade was also missing and presumed to be on the run as well.

Dr. Director had almost made up her mind to call the police and report Agent Du as missing when she glanced up and saw the agent in question enter the main operations room. Dr. Director blinked as she noticed that Du's clothing was rumpled, his hair wasn't neatly combed and he had the beginning of a five o'clock shadow.

"Agent Du! Report!" She yelled and noticed when the younger man winced before straightening his back to attention.

"I was attacked and drugged last night Dr. Director. I believe I was questioned and beaten and when they couldn't get anything out of me, my car was stolen and I was dumped on the side of the road." Du replied.

He was lying of course. While most of what happened to him the night before was a haze, he clearly remembered waking up in the arms of a naked woman. A naked woman that kept the always 'by the book' agent in her arms far longer than he should have. By the time Du was able to make himself leave the woman's apartment he had almost forgotten about Global Justice, his stolen car or how much trouble he was going to be when he finally did report in. There was no two ways about it, Du was in love.

Dr. Director moved towards the agent concerned for his safety but paused as he got within smelling distance. Du had been so worried about how late he was reporting in, he didn't bother to go home first to clean up and Dr. Director could clearly smell alcohol on him and if her memories didn't fail her, the after smell of sex on him. "Just how did they, whoever they are, managed to drug you Agent Du?"

"They must have used a sleeping dart on me Dr. Director. I have no memory of being drugged just waking up as they beat on me."

She eyed her agent with suspicion. "You don't seem overly bruised for being beaten."

"Perhaps they didn't beat me as much as I remember." Du said after a moment. "The drugs they used on me were very potent and I can't really recall much."

"Yeah. I would say near 100 proof." Dr. Director muttered as she caught another whiff of the booze on Du. "Let's start with something easy then. Why did you leave your post without notifying anyone you were leaving?"

Du had been planning for that question since he woke up this afternoon with the woman in his arms. "I received a call that promised information on the whereabouts of Ron Stoppable and left to meet with my source. Perhaps I was set up by Stoppable himself and he was the one to attack me and stole my car?"

"And where did your source agree to meet with you? Was it by chance in a bar? And perhaps to loose your source's tongue you bought him a few drinks and maybe had a few yourself to put your source at ease?" Dr. Director couldn't really decide for herself if she was baiting Du or trying to give him an out to explain why he smelled of booze.

"I do not frequent bars and I never drink while on duty." Du replied.

Dr. Director nodded her head and walking over to a desk she opened a drawer and pulled out a small device. "Then you wouldn't mind blowing into this would you?"

Du caught the device tossed him and looked at it curiously. "What is this thing?" He finally asked.

"A breath analyzer." Dr. Director told him flatly. "Now if you would please to blow into it?"

"I am the best agent you have! Isn't my word evidence enough?"

"Not when my senses tell me of other evidence." Dr. Director replied coolly. "Now blow into the breath analyzer Du. This is not a request. Its an order."

Du glared at the device in his hand like it was the cause of all of his current woes but he didn't dare defy a direct order and raising the device to his mouth he blew into it until it gave off a shrill squeal notifying him and everyone in the room it was done. Taking the device away from his mouth Du glanced at the tiny digital readout on the side of the device and nearly winced when he saw that it stated in bold red numbers: 0.10. Du knew that anything over 0.08 percent was considered legally drunk. He may not have been prone to drinking heavily but being a good agent he knew what the laws stated. He also knew that unless he came up with a really good explanation, he was busted.

Dr. Director stood almost tapping her foot as she waited for her agent to toss the device back to her. Finally Du with an almost silent sigh tossed the device to her. Looking at the small machine in her hands Dr. Director frowned at Du as she read the numbers.

"Those things are notoriously inaccurate and need to be calibrated." Du finally stated.

"Its accurate enough as it only confirms what my own nose tells me. You smell like cheap booze and a brothel Agent Du. Would you like to explain yourself?"

At that moment a female agent ran in and not realizing the hornet's nest she was walking into, walked past Du and over to Dr. Director. "We've extended the stolen car report on your car to all 50 states Dr. Director but so far we haven't heard anything back yet."

"Your car was stolen?" Du asked drawing attention back to himself. "By whom?"

Dr. Director continued to glare at him letting him know he wasn't off the hook yet but answered him anyway. "It would seem sometime after you left yesterday that the Batman decided to 'rescue' the Possibles and Monique and stole my car to do so." She told him.

"I told you we should have had the Batman under constant guard!" Du barked but then physically backed down as Dr. Director's one good eye seemed to blaze at him.

"Yes Du, you did. And we all know your judgment is never impaired." Dr. Director replied icily to him. Nothing pissed her off more than someone saying 'I told you so.' "Now let's continue this discussion inside my office!" As the Director marched over to her office to open the door for Du she suddenly paused. "Have you issued the radio signal yet that will turn on your own locator device in your car yet Agent Du?"

Du's eyes widened as he realized he hadn't done that. To be honest he had forgotten that his car had been outfitted with such a device. "No Dr. Director. I haven't had time yet."

"Activate the locator beacon on Agent Du's car." Dr. Director yelled over at some of the milling, and listening workers in the command room. By break time the gossip of Du's return would be all over the compound. "At least someone might recover their car." Dr. Director growled to herself as she once again motioned for Du to enter her office.

Squaring his shoulders and stiffening his back, as if he was marching to his own execution, Du followed the Director into her office.

AAAAAAAAAAA

Back at the Nevada underground home

AAAAAAAAAAA

The Bebe Hive Mind monitored the progress of the Bebe upgrade procedure, even though it was rather pointless to do so. After all the Bebes were the epitome of efficiency and all they had to do in the first place was to step onto the assembly line and let a drill bore a hole into their heads and wait while the nanities were inserted. After that the microscopic robots did their job. The only task required for the Bebes being worked on was for them to hold a small cube of raw materials prepared for them up to their faces so the nanities could flow out, consume the source materials and retreat back inside the Bebe's head to manufacture what was required. Humans witnessing the process, if there had been any watching, might have found it horrific but to the Hive Mind it was simply maintenance.

While the Hive Mind itself did not understand human fashion, it had scanned enough internet sites to know that the Leader Ron's choice of 'earrings' and 'sunglasses' did not detract from the symmetry of the Creator Drakken's design but accented them.

While the process was ongoing, another part of the Hive Mind waited to monitor Ron and his ladies through the guardian Bebes assigned to each of the women. Shego had given orders for the guardian Bebes to remain in the greenhouse as her and the others had sneaked down to confront Ron but now that the group was returning to the greenhouse the Hive Mind would once again be able to see through the guardian Bebes' eyes as Ron and his ladies renewed their connections to one another. The Hive Mind did not consider her or the individual Bebes impending voyeurism to be wrong or an invasion of the Leader and his ladies privacy.

The thought that maybe Ron and the women might have forgotten about the silent observers in the heat of their passions or order them away never entered the Hive Mind's calculations. After all, the Hive Mind's observation of the internet showed that humans were not shy about sharing such actions with others as most of the internet seemed to be obsessed with videos and photos of such activities.

The Hive Mind could not explain the random power surges that flowed through it as it waited to witness the Leader Ron performing such activities with his ladies but a human would have classified it as anticipation and excitement.

As the elevator reached the greenhouse, Ron stepped forward slightly ahead of his ladies and then turned back to give a 'after you' gesture but before he could even start to raise his arm to do so, a vine dropped from above and wrapping tightly around him pulled him upwards.

A displaced Rufus flailed about as he fell off Ron's shoulder only to be caught by Shego a second later.

The raven haired criminal placed him on her shoulder as she, along with the rest of Ron's harem looked upwards in shock.

Ron's first thought was that Ivy had been more angry than she had let on and had given orders to her guardian plant to harm him on sight and the plant hadn't gotten the memo that everything was fine now. A thought that was instantly blown away as the large tulip 'face' of the guardian came into his view and the plant immediately... Started to try and kiss him senseless.

Once again Ron marveled at the sensation of a giant flower pressing feather light kisses all over his face as the vines around his body tightened their hold on him.

"I take it you missed me too?" He managed to get out as the flower briefly trailed kisses down his neck before returning to his face.

Ivy standing below looking up couldn't resist grinning. Her amusement faded a few moments later as it didn't appear the plant had any intentions of returning Ron to them any time soon. "Okay baby, let him go." She finally ordered her plant servant.

The plant however ignored Ivy and continued to cradle, rock and kiss Ron. "Baby!" Ivy ordered and when the plant still refused to acknowledge her. "Baby?"

"Ivy I think your plant has stolen our boyfriend." Harley complained.

"I thought you had complete control over your plants?" Bonnie asked but then shrank back as Ivy shot her an annoyed look.

"I do have control over my plants." Ivy hissed at her. "Baby put him down now!" She barked at the plant above them.

The guardian plant stopped its kissing assault on Ron and 'looked' down at Ivy... And a moment later obviously dismissed her mistress as she returned to kissing Ron.

Ivy could only blink in shock up at her creation as Harley walked up and put an arm around the shoulder of her lover. "I think we have a case of teenage rebellion in your kingdom Red." Harley told her with a giggle.

"Laugh if you want to Harley but she is keeping Ron from your playtime as much as she is mine."

This brought a frown to Harley's face as well. "Hey! That's right!" Looking up at the plant creation she shook her fist. "Give him back!"

Once again the plant paused and the giant flower bud turned as if looking down at Harley and a rasping noise was heard. The plant then went back to cuddling and kissing Ron.

"Did that plant just blow Harley a raspberry?" A stunned Bonnie asked Shego.

"I'm not sure but I know one thing. If that flower doesn't release Ron right this instant, its toast!" Shego said firing up her powers around her hand.

"Don't Shego!" Ron managed to turn his head to yell down at her as the plant nuzzled the side of his face. As the plant pulled back Ron turned to face it. "I missed you too baby and I'm not just saying that, I really did miss you but you need to return me to the girls now."

The mutant tulip 'stared' at Ron for a second before the flower descended to cover Ron's head completely.

"Its eating him!" Bonnie screamed.

"Don't be stupid Bonnie!" Ivy replied to her. "Baby doesn't have any teeth! It's a flower!"

"How is it suppose to protect the greenhouse then?" Bonnie was confused enough to forget Ron's predicament for a moment.

"The vines can sprout razor sharp thorns if it decides it is necessary." Ivy explained without taking her eyes off the plant above them. The flower gave a mighty shudder and then allowed Ron's head to come out of it's 'mouth'. Slowly the plant then lowered Ron gently back towards the floor and his ladies.

As the vines unwrapped from around Ron, Shego and the rest could see his face was now covered in a fine white powder like substance.

"Your plant came on him?" Bonnie asked stunned as Ron started sneezing.

"A plant can't cum." Ivy said as she walked over to where Ron had been released. "That is pollen."

"Um Red?" Harley said as all of them grouped around Ron. "I know I'm not a botanist like you but isn't in plant terms that the same thing?"

Ivy once again blinked several times before looking up the guardian plant. "Baby I'm surprised at you!" She scolded the flower.

If such things could be believed, the plant actually managed to look sheepish but didn't pull fully back into the gazebo above the elevator but hovered just out of the angry women's reach.

"My master was just violated by a plant." Bonnie muttered to herself.

Ron gave several more rapid violent sneezes before regaining control. "My motto has always..." Sneeze. "Been never be..." Sneeze. "Normal but even for me that was..." Sneeze. "Weird."

Shego and Bonnie sneezed a few times as Ivy brushed the pollen from Ron's hair and shoulders but her and Harley were immune to the stuff. Harley with a devious grin looked at them. "I guess this mean me and Ivy get him first!"

"What?" Bonnie shouted. "No way!" She rushed over and threw her arms around Ron and promptly started sneezing so hard she had to back away.

"You had your plant do this deliberately didn't you Ivy?" Shego growled.

"What? No. You want to blame someone blame Ron. He seduced my baby!"

Harley giggling once again threw herself into Ron's arms. Ron instinctively caught the blond pigtailed woman as she wrapped her arms and legs around him as he stood there. Placing her head on his shoulder Harley smiled hugely as if she had just won the last huge teddy bear at a carnival.

"This is completely unfair!" Bonnie stated stomping her foot before yawning.

"Don't make a fuss Bon Bon." Ron said with a slight smile. "I don't think any of us are going to be doing much tonight anyway."

"What do you mean?" Shego asked as she stifled her own yawn.

"Harley here?" Ron said lowering his voice and turning so they could see her face. "Is sound asleep." Ron finished.

It was true. Harley still grinning like a fool was breathing deeply and was clearly sound asleep still clutching Ron.

Ivy smiled at the cute display. "Well none of us got much rest while you were gone." She admitted.

"Neither did the Leader Ron." A voice called out from the side of the elevator gazebo reminding them all that their Bebes were with them.

Ivy walking over to a flower bed with the softest of moss and grasses were planted that she used as a bed sat down cross legged and motioned for Ron come over. Walking over Ron eased into a sitting position without disturbing Harley and Ivy pulled him back till his head was resting in her lap. Shego and Bonnie, who was still pouting slightly, took either side of Ron and clutching at his side laid back as well.

Without being told, the Bebes in the room turned off the lights leaving the room bathed in only the dawn's early light coming through the greenhouse's glass skylights.

Deep below them, the Bebe Hive Mind had another random power surge. If she had been human she would have recognized it as feelings of disappointment.

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Author's note:

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Yes another filler chapter, but one that had to be written to gather up some loose ends. Next chapter comes lemons, revelations and certain substances 'hit the fan' so to speak.

Oh! And check out my bio (I finally put something in there, including a photo of yours truly as well of more ways to contact me. For those who don't know how to find the bios, and is there really anyone who doesn't? Just use the Search. Author. My name: weirdbard and it will lead you directly to it.)


	32. Chapter 32

Partners in Crime

By Weirdbard

Chapter 32

.

A showered, shaved, properly uniformed and chastised Will Du stood at attention in the main operations room of Global Justice as Dr. Director came out of her office. After the chewing out he had received from her the day before, Du was happy he still had his job. Du was big enough man to admit he had screwed up and big time but fortunately nothing bad had come of it.

"Have we gotten any hits on Du's car locator?" Dr. Director asked one of the technicians working at their computer terminals in front of the big screen.

"No Dr. Director." The technician admitted. "But that can be because of two reasons. Either the car was driven far enough away from the city that the signal hasn't reached it yet or..."

"Someone ripped the circuit from the car like what happened to my car." Dr. Director added sourly.

"Um, yes Dr. Director."

"Well on the off chance Du's locator wasn't … located. Have the signal sent by our satellites to all the states and Mexico as well. If we don't get a response then we know the circuit has been disabled and the car has probably been reduced to its parts in a chop shop."

Du winced at the thought of his fancy sports car being hacked apart of parts in some illegal chop shop but said nothing to draw attention to himself.

"Have we had any reports on the whereabouts of Kim Possible or Batman yet?"

"No Dr. Director."

Dr. Director released a long sigh and reaching up she massaged her eye patch. "Why do I have the feeling that everything is about to hit the fan?" She asked no one. Turning she returned to her office pausing only long enough to shoot a glare at Du. "Keep me posted on any new developments Du."

"Yes Dr..." Du stopped as her office door slammed shut. Turning his attention to the technicians before him he barked. "Is anyone monitoring police or news frequencies?"

"The computer is monitoring all transmissions Agent Du." One of the numerous techs wearing white lab coats answered him without looking up from her keyboard to address him properly. "It is scanning for any keywords. Things like Kim Possible's name. Men in costumes like a bat. Ron Stoppable, Shego, Harley Quinn or Ivy's names. Oh and of course it is always looking for any mention of Global Justice." The technician blinked as a beeping was heard from her terminal. "As a matter of fact we have a hit now." She said excitedly. "It's a TV channel that has used one of the key phrases."

"Put it up on the big screen. With any luck it'll be that the traitor Kim Possible has crashed the Dr.'s car and they have all died." While Du had a deeply hidden desire and fondness for the fiery red head he firmly believed that anyone who would turn their back on Global Justice and endanger the organization, no matter what the reason, should die a slow and painful death.

Du was shocked when the huge screen flickered to life and he found himself looking up at the woman he had spent the night with just the other day was revealed. It was apparent that she was being interviewed for some morning news show.

"So you are saying that you not only have proof this secret government agency called..." The man doing the interview glanced down at the notes in his hand. "Global Justice has been carrying out what frankly constitutes nothing but acts of terrorism on our own people in the name of defending them from 'super criminals' but have also indulged in misinformation and downright lies?" The man asked with a note of skepticism in his voice.

"Yes Matt. I'm sorry to say that is exactly what I'm saying." Megan Orla replied. "I have this information directly from the mouth of a highly placed Agent in the organization and I will be revealing the tapes I have recorded of his revelations this evening as part of my new position as Anchor Woman for A.N.N."

Matt nodded his head. "Yes I've heard that you have been made the new Anchor for the All News Network. Its quite an accomplishment for such a young woman whose only previous news work was as a reporter for what some would call a 'entertainment' newspaper. "

Megan smiled a brilliant smile at her interviewer. "We all have to start somewhere Matt. And this is my start."

The technician who had been watching the screen along with Du shook her head. "Dr. Director is not going to be pleased. I wonder what air headed agent made the mistake of spilling his or her mouth to that newshound?"

The tech glanced back and found that Du was gone and she was talking to herself. Looking towards the Director's door she figured she would see Du rushing to report the incident to the Director and claim credit for finding it out but was surprised when she noticed the door was closed and Du was no where in sight.

Glancing to the technician sitting a few feet away she said. "I wonder where Du went and who is going to tell Dr. Director about the leak in our security?"

The technician next to her refused to lift his head from his keyboard. "I don't know but I'm not going to be the one to bring her any more bad news. She put the guards that were supposed to be watching Kim Possible's mother on surveillance duty in Siberia for screwing up."

Meanwhile Du in panic was rushing to the pneumatic travel tubes to get out of Global Justice before Dr. Director found out about Megan's plan to drop a bombshell on the American people.

"_None of this is my fault!" _Du thought to himself as he basically threw himself into a travel tube.

"_Why am I plagued by redheads? This is all Megan's fault! I have to stop her before she can play any of those tapes!"_

Du checked his pocket but then remembered that Dr. Director had taken from him his personal gun. A glance at his wrist shocked Du when he realized for the first time in his agent life he was not wearing his stun watch either.

"_Okay, first stop is to pick up a new gun and then to Megan's apartment. She'll have to be silenced and permanently." _ Du thought with regret. _"But she brought this upon herself. It's not my fault!"_

_._

_._

_._

AAAAAAAAAAAA

The greenhouse of Poison Ivy at the underground lair of Ron Stoppable and his ladies.

This is in the mature section so you can safely assume there will be a lemon.

AAAAAAAAAAAA

The first sensation Ron Stoppable felt as his mind slowly woke from his peaceful dreamless sleep was that of naked flesh grinding against his naked flesh. Without opening his eyes Ron wondered how Harley had managed to get his pants off and straddle him without waking Shego or Bonnie.

"You are truly a nympho you know that Harley?" Ron asked with a pleased grin, still not opening his eyes.

A sharp pain across his chest of razor sharp nails scratching him caused Ron's eyes to pop open as much as the husky voice of Shego saying. "Wrong woman Ron."

Staring upward Ron confirmed it was indeed Shego who was riding him and not Harley. Ron blinked sleepily as he tried to recall last night and once again confirmed to himself that when he went to sleep it was Harley lying on top of him as if he were a mattress and not Shego. Turning his head to the side where he remembered Bonnie had taken a spot next to him last night Ron almost laughed out loud as he saw that Harley was now lying completely on top of Bonnie and in her sleep was nuzzling Bonnie's throat. Ron's near chuckle broke off into a low moan of pleasure as Shego ground down harder on him. While Ron might still have been slightly asleep, his little Ronnie was obvious quite awake and was enjoying Shego's ministrations immensely.

Ron started to turn his head back to concentrate on his lover Shego when he noticed that Harley was starting to wake herself. No doubt triggered by his moan of pleasure.

Harley started to slowly lick the underside of Bonnie's chin as her hands unzipped Bonnie's costume and her hands started to roam across her chest. A still asleep Bonnie responded to the pleasant sensations by reacting in kind. As both women started kneeding each other's breasts, they both moaned Ron's name and their eyes opened at almost the exact same second.

"You aren't Ronnie."

"You are not my master."

Harley blinked at the shocked face of Bonnie for a moment and then with a shrug she went back to nuzzling and licking her throat and continued her hands roaming across Bonnie's chest.

"Harley!" Bonnie shouted and then moaned as Harley pinched her nipples.

"If you can't love the one you went to bed with, love the one you wake up on, I always say." Harley stated and then plunged her tongue into Bonnie's mouth to prevent her arguing. Pulling away a moment later Harley was pleased to see Bonnie was too lost in sensations to complain further. Glancing over to where Shego was riding Ron, Harley frowned. "Cheap trick stealing a guy out from under a gal though Blackie."

Shego breathing heavily as she continued to ride Ron as if he was some prize bull at a rodeo spared her a glare of her own. "One: I did not steal him out from under you. I woke first this morning and gave you a shove and you rolled over on to Bonnie on your own. And two: How many times do I have to say this? Ron was, is and always will be mine! I share him with the rest of you but he's mine!"

"I don't get a say in the matter?" Ron asked but being careful to say it in a joking manner.

Shego ran her razor sharp nails lightly across his chest again. "Of course you do Ron. You can say, yes Shego. You are so right Shego."

Ron lifted his hands from his side and lightly kneaded Shego's breasts. "Yes dear. I'm forever yours."

"That works too." Shego readily agreed and then moaned fiercely.

"Absolutely wonderful." Ivy's sarcastic voice called out from above Ron's prone head. "How did I end up as odd woman out in this little early morning orgy?"

"You overslept Pammy." Harley told her before leaning backwards, confusing Bonnie until she realized that the pigtailed blond was bringing her bare groin into contact with hers. Bonnie spared a moment of thought wondering how the young woman managed to get the rest of her costume off not to mention her panties without her noticing before she lost the ability to form any coherent thoughts at all as Harley began a slow rub/grind against her core.

As Harley and Bonnie began a slow writhing prone dance with one another, Ron craned his neck until he could just see and feel the crotch of Ivy's costume near his face and remembered that he had gone to sleep last night with his head cradled in her lap. For all the sarcasm in her voice Ron could detect the unique spicy scent of Ivy's arousal and knew the redhead was really turned on by what she had awoke to.

As Ron's eyes stopped straining to see through the top of his head and returned to looking straight up, he met Ivy's amused stare. "Well intrepid leader..." Ivy said with a smirk. "Three of your harem is getting off this morning but that leaves one unsatisfied. What are you going to do about that?"

"There's always the Bebes." Ron stated before moaning as Shego rode down hard on him again.

Ivy's eyebrow twitched. "I'm not into machines."

"Uh...oh... uh." Ron moaned before regaining enough presence of mind to say. "Your plants?"

"I love plants." Ivy agreed. "But I try not to 'love' my plants." Ivy's frown was replaced momentarily by a smirk. "Unlike you, plant seducer."

Ron's response was momentarily lost as Shego brought her nails across his chest again reminding him that he had a dance partner that was feeling a bit neglected. But not quite as neglected as the one whose lap his head was resting in.

"Well I guess it will just be up to your intrepid leader to help you with your problem." Ron said with a smile.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Ivy managed to say before Ron brought his hands up from his side to over his head and gripped Ivy's thighs. With a quick flick of a finger, and with a slight glow of assistance of his Mystical Monkey Powers, Ron tore the crotch out of Ivy's costume and then using his enhanced strength he pulled/lifted Ivy from her sitting position behind him to position her over his face.

"Ron what do you think you are doing?" Ivy growled as he tore her costume. A moment later her eyes grew large as he lifted her and sat her on his face and he started using his tongue. "Oh! That is what you are doing!" Ivy added as Ron got busy with his mouth.

"Oh now that is totally unfair!" Harley paused in her actions with Bonnie to complain. "Now Ivy is getting to use Ronnie without us!"

Bonnie dug her nails into Harley's leg to get her attention. "Concentrate Harley!" She moaned as furiously rubbed her sex against Harley's. "Now is no time to get distracted! Finish what you started!" She groaned/demanded.

Harley giggled and reaching out she interlaced Bonnie's hands with her's and pulling she brought them into even closer contact with one another and commenced wiggling and writhing once again.

Over near the elevator gazebo the Bebes that were assigned to watch over the ladies were doing just that, watching. Above them the plant guardian 'Baby' was cradling Rufus in her leaves as the small rodent slept on. The guard plant was also observing the early morning group sex and wished that the pleasant smelling male creature had returned the favor and cross pollinated her last night.

AAAAAAAAAAAA

On the road with Drakken and the Joker

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Drakken was driving and he thought to himself he finally found someone who didn't complain about his driving and it had to be a homicidal maniac clown. Risking a glance out of the corner of his eye he could see the killer clown had a wide brim purple hat pulled down over his eyes and appeared to be sound asleep.

The whiny side of Drakken felt like complaining out loud about being forced to drive across country to Nevada while the Joker did nothing but seemingly sleep the entire trip but remembering who he was thinking about, Drakken bit down on his tongue rather than vocalize his feelings. As if Drakken had that much difficulty keeping in mind just how dangerous the Joker was, all he had to do was remember the blood stains on the seat he was sitting in or the 'party favors' the Joker had loaded into the back seat of the stolen car they were in.

Directly behind Drakken's head, the back seats of the car was loaded high with water cooler containers filled with salt and rusted barbwire and one contained a fluid that Drakken had watched the Joker mix up and when some was spilled in the 'rent a lair' had ate a hole in the floor revealing it was some kind of virulent acid. The very back of the stolen station wagon was loaded with boxes and boxes of Drakken's new and improved magnetic pulse weapons to be used against the Bebes.

Drakken's eyes drifted up to glance at the rear view mirror before skirting away as he caught sight of a small stuffed child's toy hanging from said mirror. Some kind of tiny panda bear made to grip the side of the mirror. It was the kind of thing a father might buy his kid to commemorate a trip to a zoo.

"_It's not my fault."_ Drakken mentally tried to reassure himself. _"What idiot family man is driving __around late at night and stops for a man dressed in a purple suit with a white face? The Joker was even standing under a street lamp for god's sake! He had to see that the man wasn't normal!"_

Drakken shivered as he remembered the car pulling to a stop and the man rolling down his driver's side window to ask if they needed help and the Joker as he calmly walked up, pulled a playing card from a sleeve and slit the man's throat from ear to ear and casually saying to the now dead man. "Yes, we could use a ride. Thank you."

"_None of this is my fault!"_ Drakken almost said out loud before biting down on his tongue again. _"Just when did my life go to Hell again?" _Drakken continued his thoughts to himself.

"_Oh right. When Shego left me."_

While there had never been anything physical between him and Shego, Drakken had always hoped that there might be someday. He maybe a mad scientist with dreams of ruling the world but he was also a red blooded man and Shego exotic looks were enough to inspire fantasies in any man. Drakken let a sour look cross his face. _"Or some women it would seem as well." _He mentally added as he remembered seeing Harley once glomp onto the raven haired woman and kiss her. At the time Drakken had thought that the bubbly blond was going to die and nearly had his eyes pop out of his head when Shego had only told her. "Not right now Harley, later tonight with Ron."

Drakken's thoughts were interrupted as the Joker next to him started mumbling as he talked in his sleep and Drakken found himself unwillingly listening in.

"Harley gal, your eyes look a little red from seeing me. I have the eye drops that will help to get the red out..." A long blood chilling giggle came from the sleeping maniac clown before he added. "It'll get the red out.. The blues... The greens... the corneas and a good part of your brain mass." The Joker giggled again making Drakken shiver. "Let's just tighten your barbwire corset a few turns too." Again another giggle straight from Hell came from the Joker.

The Joker's dreams and sleep talking caused Drakken's mind to focus in on memories of Harley Quinn. The way the blond would prance around in almost nothing just to tease and arouse him. How she would make comments with double meanings just to make him look foolish... How she was willing to... Talk to him at all. How when the others were willing to just leave Drakken in silence, Harley was always careful to include him even if it was just teasing.

"_She was never but friendly to me, even if she didn't want to hop in the sack with me she never out and out rejected or insulted me." _

Memories of Harley wearing nothing but panties and a man's shirt came to Drakken's mind once again making him grin. Images that were suddenly overlaid by flashes of the bubbly blond with her eyes burned out by acid and twitching in agony as the Joker gleefully cocooned her body in salty, rusty barbwire.

The sudden nightmarish flashes almost caused Drakken to veer off the road as his muscles instinctively jerked in horror.

Looking into the rear view mirror to make sure no car was behind him, Drakken caught the reflection of his own eyes for a second.

"_What the Hell am I doing?" _He mentally demanded of himself. "_Momma Lipsky didn't raise me to be a monster! Harley and Ivy haven't done anything to me to warrant being mutilated and killed! It's not their fault! Its that..."_ Drakken's mind ground to a halt as he couldn't remember Ron's name for a moment. _ "Oh this is asinine!" _Drakken berated himself. _"How can I forget whatshisname once again? I mean I lived with them! He saved me when I was about to die in the desert. He fed me! He bought me clothes when I had none! He..." _ Once again Drakken found himself grinding to a halt as his mind caught up to his brain. There was dead silence in his mind for a moment as Drakken just sat there driving mindlessly towards Ron's underground home.

"_Ron... Ron Stoppable. That's the kid's name. No, the man's name. The man who saved me when he didn't have to. The man who didn't throw me to the sands but welcomed me into his home. Who fed me and clothed me and even gave me monies to fund my building my Bebes and..."_

Drakken A.K.A. Drew Lipsky looked back into the rear view mirror of the stolen car he was driving a psychotic murderer to kill four women and a man whom had only shown Drew kindness. "Oh my god. Momma did raise a monster!" Drakken practically sobbed out loud. A quick glance to his side showed that he hadn't awoke the Joker.

"_Well, I just won't do it!" _Drakken thought to himself silently. _"I may have been an idiot but I refuse to be an accomplice to murder!" _

The driver's seat he was sitting in was sticky with the blood of its previous owner reminding Drakken that he was already technically an accomplice to murder. _"I didn't know the Joker was going to kill that man. That was not my fault! But I won't willingly be a helper to what the Joker plans to do to next! I'll just pull the car to the side of the road while the Joker is sleeping and..." _Drakken found himself at a loss on what he would do next. It was unlikely that any passing car would give him a ride before the Joker awoke. His blue skin would normally keep something like that from happening and now that his face was bruised and purpling it was even less likely. And it wasn't like he could pull over and pull the Joker out of the car and leave him by the side of the road. Drakken just didn't have the strength nor if he were to be honest with himself the courage to even attempt such a thing.

"_It doesn't matter! I won't be the kind of slime I would have to be to harm those who have not done anything to me except to defend themselves when I tried to take over. I'd rather die than watch the Joker torture and mutilate Harley. I would rather..." _Drakken glanced over once again in the Joker's direction and all thoughts ground to a halt as he realized the man was now awake and watching him. Watching him with shiny insane but knowing eyes.

"Don't tell me Drakkey that you might be considering betraying me?" The Joker asked in a joking but none the less chilling manner. "I think you know how I react to people who betray me." The clown nodded back towards the back seat where his assembled toys waited.

All Drakken could do was nervously shake his head no.

"Good. I'm glad to hear that." The Joker replied with a smile that made Drakken want to wet his pants. "We're going to remain the best of friends and have lots of fun when we catch up to my old playmate."

"_It's not my fault!"_ Drakken thought desperately to himself as he turned his attention back to the road and continued driving. _"None of what is going to happen is my fault!" _Drakken mentally whined to himself.

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Batman, Monique and the Possible women outside Kim's uncle's ranch

AAAAAAAAAAAA

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As Batman, now known to the group as Bruce drove Dr. Director's former car up to the ranch gates he spied what looked like an old fashion cowboy leaning against the fence near the entrance. It was only when Bruce stopped the car that he realized he was not looking at a real human but a robot dressed in cowboy clothing. The metallic being lazily took one finger and pushed the brim of his 10 gallon hat up to expose his optic sensors. "Hello Pardner. You've reached Slim Possible's spread and if'n you are all reporters I suggest you mossey on along right now. We'n don't take kindly to you varmints here."

Bruce scrutinized the western revolvers on the robot's hips. On the journey here Kim and Dr. Ann Possible had assured him that Slim Possible abhorred violence but he wasn't quite willing to accept that the authentic looking 'six shooters' the robot was bearing would shoot blanks.

Kim quickly rolled down the window of the car and stuck her body half out of the car and called to the robotic ranch hand. "It's me! Kim Possible and my mother Ann Possible and my friend Monique... Along with a new friend named Bruce to see my uncle." She added as she noticed the robot eyeing Bruce.

The robot cowboy nodded his head and went lifeless, a moment later it nodded its head. "Slim and his brother are ridin out to meet y'all. They'll be here in a jiffy."

"Why can't you just open the gates and let me drive up to the house?" Bruce asked curiously.

"Well'n there's a small problem there ya see. The Possible younguns have been stringing traps in case we have any interloper reporter varmints tryin to sneak in again. Slim thinks it be'n safer to just wait and let him lead y'all to the homestead."

Bruce blinked. "A couple of boys have made traps that might stop a car?"

The cowboy met his stare of disbelief with his cold metallic eyes. "Yes'n. One of the traps we've discovered was a camouflaged tiger pit big'n nuff to swallow a herd of cattle. Only the younguns know where all the traps are which is why Slim is bringing them along to fetch y'all."

Kim still leaning out of the back window of the car shook her head with a smile. "Trust the Dweebs to turn Uncle Slim's ranch upside down."

Kim turned to look at the road that lead to her uncle's ranch and noticed it was empty without even a rolling tumbleweed to disturb the silence. "Is that why this place is so empty? The Dweebs scared all the reporters away?" Kim asked with a note of disbelief in her voice. Sure the Dweebs traps might have kept the reporters off the property and away from the house but even away from the road leading to the ranch?

"Well'n..." The robot began to drawl. "The youngun's tricks might have helped but what really cleared the varmints away from the gates was the metal buzzing women. Starting about a day after your'n papa and brothers showed up they descended, grabbed up the rascals hanging around outside the gates and carted them about a mile down the road before dumping them off. The reporters were a hard headed lot and came back a time or two but finally the metal women started strippin the varmints out of'n their clothing before dumping them, their clothes and their cars even farther away. Eventually the rascals got'n the idea and vamoosed on their own."

Kim could only blink at the robot cowboy until she was distracted by Monique. The young black woman had exited the car on the other side and walked around with out Kim noticing and was now leaning on the back of the car near her and chuckling. When Kim turned to stare at her, Monique simply shrugged. "I had wondered why we hadn't seen any police cars or news vans on the way here and now I know. Your boy is still looking out after you."

"Ron's no longer my 'boy'." Kim stated somewhat sadly but she was still touched that he was having what was now undeniably his Bebes looking after her family and protecting them still.

She sighed wistfully a moment later. "How I wish things could go back to the way they were before Harley and Ivy appeared in our world. Only this time I would treat Ron the way he deserved to be treated." She added.

Bruce felt a twinge of remorse that he kept off his face as he waited for the young redhead's uncle to show up and let them into his property. Once again he silently berated himself. _"This is all my fault! The transdimensional vortex portal generator in my world was created by Wayne Industries. I chased Harley and Ivy into a corner where Harley felt the need to try and defend her and Ivy by using the device and even farther back if I hadn't caused the Joker to be 'born' Harleen Quinzel would never have fallen under his guile and ended up as a criminal in the first place."_ Bruce watched out of the corner of his eye as Monique tried to comfort a now depressed Kim. _"In the end everything that has happened to the young woman since Harley and Ivy has arrived is my fault but I promise you Kim Possible that I will make it right."_

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Ron Stoppable's underground home

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.

All morning long he kept trying to put off telling her about the Joker knowing she wouldn't take the fact that the monster she had nightmares about was once again in the same dimension as her and Ivy were.

To be fair, at first Ron had trouble thinking of anything but lust and desire as Shego had awaken him with sex and then of course each of the women wanted one on one time with him and then there was the shower to clean up and the resulting sex from washing one another and then another shower which... Well, you get the idea. Eventually, it was more hunger for food that caused them restraint rather than a lessening of hunger for each other that caused them to head down to the kitchen but as it had to happen after everyone had eaten, Bonnie had asked where he had been while he was gone and what he had done.

Ron hoping to keep the warm cozy loving feeling going a bit longer tried to keep from answering as he busied himself with cleaning the kitchen after their breakfast but unfortunately he had forgotten one thing. He had not instructed the Bebes to keep quiet. So the second time Bonnie asked where he had been while Shego and the rest looked on curiously, one of the Bebes in the room spoke up.

"Leader Ron instructed Bebes to put as much distance as we could between him and his ladies to protect them but with no other instructions so we drove him to Middletown and the Possible residence."

Shego instantly turned stormy looking as her hands flared into power. "You leave us and went to see HER?"

Ron immediately turned to face them and raised his hands defensively. "No. No. I didn't go see Kim and you heard the Bebes! It was their idea we go to Middletown!"

Shego turned to look at the Bebe that had spoken and as Ron glanced at the metallic woman he noticed with surprise it was one of one's that had traveled with him, number 47, now completely repaired and upgraded of course. "This is correct. Leader Ron did not go to see Kim Possible and the journey was not his idea. Consultation with the Bebe hive mind determined that Leader Ron was suffering from confusion and regrets and it was determined that in such times that humans often turn to a parental unit for comfort and wisdom."

"Then why didn't you just take him to his mother or father?" Harley asked.

"Recent news reports and review of Leader Ron's past revealed that his biological parental units had failed in their advisory and comfort protocols so Bebe hive mind recommended a secondary parental figure."

Shego's anger was doused and with it her flaring hands. "Mrs Possible. Kim's mom. Of course."

"This is correct. However upon arriving at the Possible residence it was found surrounded by agents of information and photographic gathers."

"Reporters and paparazzi huh?" Ivy said as she lounged in a kitchen chair near Harley.

Ron nodded as he desperately tried to think of a way to stop the Bebe from telling any more without appearing to try to stop her. He could just order it of course and the Bebe would obey him without question... Well, maybe. Ron had already accepted that the Bebes had a mind of their own and no matter how much they may call him Leader, they did things their way.

But he knew his ordering them to be quiet would only cause Shego, Harley, Ivy and Bonnie suspicion and get them to ask even more questions. What to do?

He was distracted when Dr. Mozzenberg and his own robotic creation MANTIS entered the kitchen.

"Ah Herr Stoppable. It is good to see that you have returned." The doctor greeted him.

The MANTIS cocked its alien looking head first one way and then the other as it 'stared' at him. "Are you injured?" It finally asked. "Your heart rate is exceptionally high for a human and your hands show signs of tremors."

Ron glanced at his hands and noticed that indeed he was shaking slightly.

"There is a 30 percent chance the Leader Ron is just re-experiencing the battle in which this Bebe and another were damaged by the Creator Drakken and the Joker."

There was dead silence in the kitchen for a moment and Ron watched as the bubbly energetic woman known simply as Harley seemed to literally collapse in on herself and he knew it was all his fault.

"_Well there it is." _Ron thought to himself. _"The hornet hive has dropped into the middle of the picnic."_

Harley looked at the Bebe who had spoken and was already starting to slowly shake her head. "Maybe it was Drakken but it couldn't be the Joker. He's not in this dimension." She said slowly as if speaking to a child. Harley's breathing began to increase and the whites of her eyes became more prominent. "No. Mr. J. is back in our dimension! How could he get here? Its not possible!" Harley looked to Ron. "Ron tell your Bebe she is wrong! That she didn't see the Joker here! Tell her... Please?"

"The Joker has been brought to this dimension by the actions of the Creator Drakken with the use of the Transdimensional Vortex Inducer." The Bebe replied, also in a slightly slower manner as if Harley were the slow child now. Ron filed away for later the fact that the Bebes were learning more and more human mannerisms but for right now he had to try and soften the shock for Harley.

"No." Harley replied, her voice starting to raise slightly. "Drakken couldn't have used the vortex thingy because it is still in my room, under my toy drawer."

"Negative." The Bebe replied. "Creator Drakken when he left took the device with him."

The MANTIS started towards Harley but was halted by the hand of Mozzenberg. "Subject known as Harley Quinn is showing signs of fear and panic. She needs to be sedated." The machine replied to the doctor.

Harley turned her head away from the Bebe she had been arguing with to stare at Ron but replied to the MANTIS anyway. "I'm not panicking! Because she's wrong! Isn't she Ronnie?"

Ron's gaze shifted briefly to Poison Ivy in an obvious plea for help before kneeling next to the chair that Harley was sitting in. Harley could feel without looking as Ivy moved closer to her as well. "I'm sorry Harley but she is right. I found Drakken with the Joker at Mrs. Dr. P's house." Ron said softly.

Shego and Bonnie instinctively started moving closer to Harley as well as they could see the young woman was starting to shake. Shego said softly to Ron. "What happened? Exactly?"

Ron glanced up at the Bebe before opening his arms to Harley who latched on to him as if he was a lifesaver thrown to her while she drowned.

"When Leader Ron arrived at the Possible residence he found that the reporters and paparazzi had all ceased functioning on the grassy area located in the front of the Possible residence. Upon investigation it was determined that their life force was terminated by the use of a chemical that restricted their breathing abilities by forced convulsions of the lungs and after death their facial features had contracted forcing their faces into smiles..."

"That damn clown's laughing death gas." Ivy said as if a curse.

The Bebe inclined her head as if nodding in agreement. "The Leader Ron then entered the Possible home and found creator Drakken and..."

"Will you stop with that creator shit?" Shego hissed, interrupting the bebe. He may have designed you but Ron has had more to do with your development than that idiot ever did. And can you just state what happened without making it sound like a police report?"

The Bebe's eyes flashed and once again the head nodded. "Very well. Leader Ron found Drakken and the Joker was holding Mrs. Possible and a young black woman hostage. The Leader..." The Bebe paused as Shego shot her another glare. "Ron attempted to rescue them but was temporarily distracted when Drakken used a magnetic pulse weapon against us Bebes causing blindness and inability to call to other Bebes for help. The Joker then held him at bay with a glass ball filled with more of the gas that he had used on the reporters outside. Drakken urged the Joker to flee not knowing that our internal communications with the other Bebes had been disrupted. The Joker in a delaying tactic used the glass ball with a crude detonator device causing Ron to save Mrs. Possible and the young black woman from destruction rather than give chase." The Bebe stated.

Ron holding on to Harley as the young woman attempted to mold herself to him as she sobbed, continued for the Bebe. "If things hadn't been bad enough I had barely untied Mrs. Dr. P. and Monique when the blinded Bebes told me that there were signs of a underground travel tube in use. I knew that meant Global Justice was about to arrive so I guided the Bebes out to the car and got caught in the middle of the yard by Du, Kim and..." Ron looked over at Ivy. "And batman showed up."

Ivy sighed. "Him too?"

Harley in Ron's arms even though she was crying gave a almost hysterical giggle. "Of course. If Mr. J. made it here you know Batman would somehow find a way to follow."

"Anyway, to make a long story short. Du tried to shoot me at close range with a gun but the Batman stopped him and I grabbed up the two Bebes with me, jumped into the car and drove like Hell. We had to ditch the car. Sorry Shego. I hid your car in a warehouse and we can go back for it later someday if you want to and I then stole another car to get back home to repair the Bebes. The rest you know." Ron finished.

Harley suddenly pulled out of his and Ivy's arms. "Drakken knows where we live. He'll lead Mr. J. here. And Mr. J. will kill everyone he finds me with. I have to get out of here!" Harley paused in her mid panic and still seated she put her hands on her hips. "Don't give me that look Ronnie! This is totally different than what you did!"

Ron nodded. "Yeah I just have the entire world after my hide. You just have one guy."

Harley, her face now flushing with anger continued to leave her hands on her hips. "Mr. J. is not just some guy! He's a grinning laughing demon out of Hell. He's a force of darkness that no one can stop and if you thought us hanging next to you on a scaffold was a nightmare, you don't know the half of what HE is possible of doing. He..."

Harley was cut off as Shego with several quick steps was beside her and slapped her across the face. "Snap out of it Harley! Demon or man it doesn't matter. We as a group are strong and we have an army of Bebes to stand beside us. Good lord woman! What happened to the person who tricked me and Ron with a fast food box and two dog collars? Get a hold of yourself!"

While Ivy didn't like Shego slapping Harley like that, she had to admit Shego was right. Ivy never did think that the Joker was all that. Her and Harley had survived for many months after Harley had left the Joker while he tried to hunt them down and kill them. This world or Gotham's world. It was all the same. Except here they had the advantage! They had Ron, Shego, the Bebes and heck even Bonnie and the only ally the Joker had was Drakken? Give her a break! The Joker came after them here they would cut him into bright party streamers and hang him from the rafters! That is if theif underground home had rafters. "She's right Harley."

Harley stopped in her panic and turned in surprise to look at Ivy. Surely if no one else, Ivy had to know what the Joker was capable of and had to agree with her. "But Ivy! What if Mr. J. comes to our home here and tries to harm Shego, Bonnie or Ronnie just because we are here?"

"I will kill him." Ron's flat voice sounded like a shout in the room even though he hadn't raised his voice. All the women and Mozzenberg turned to look at him and blink.

"Ron..." Shego started but was halted as the blond haired gangly man looked at her with his 'serious face'.

"You all are my family. The Joker threatens my family therefore the Joker must end. Its that simple." Ron stated and looked at the Bebe. "Is that understood?"

"Yes Ron. The Joker comes here he will be terminated."

"No. That's not good enough." Ron said rising to his feet from where he had been kneeling and crossed over to the Bebe to stare into her electronic eyes. "This is..." Ron paused and he looked confused for a moment. "What do they call it? A prime directive. This is a now a prime directive. If any Bebe at any time sees the Joker he is to be terminated immediately. He's already killed innocent people in this world and I'm not risking him being captured only to be put in a insane asylum like he was back in Gotham." Ron turned to look back at Ivy and Harley. "I don't know what the reasoning of your Batman is, but I won't make that mistake. I want him gone."

Ron glancing over at Harley to see her reaction could see that she was still nervous with the thought that the Joker and Drakken might decide to come to their very home. "I think its time we return to Africa, don't you?" He suddenly asked.

The abrupt change in topic caused Harley to glance up at him and forget her concerns for a moment. "Huh?" She asked.

"Well we were always planning on going back." Ron said warming to his own idea. "I mean we were just coming back home for a quick visit and then planning on going back, before I got caught up in the 'whole world' is against me I mean. We can't have the tribes over there think we've forgotten them and I'm sure the Taosian government has been amping up their attacks?" Ron glanced at the Bebe he was still standing next to.

"Correct. Recent land attacks have increased but the Bebes in the area have been repelling them completely. There has been some speculation on the internet as well as news media that the government will instigate aerial attacks soon."

"I'm surprised they haven't already." Shego stated.

"Harder to convince the world they are only trying to protect the people in the town if they do that." Ron said. "I knew we had some time before they resorted to such extreme actions but at the same time I also knew that sooner or later they would."

"But if we return now while the world is watching..." Bonnie said reminding everyone that she was still a part of the conversation. "Won't the media just use it as more fuel that you are the dictator they are claiming?"

Ron gave a faint grim smile. "Oh probably. But for good or bad I was the one that started this whole ball of wax rolling so I'm responsible. I have to see it through."

The eyes of the Bebe in the kitchen with them flashed as they picked up some information from the hive mind. Ron's mother and father whom had been quite vocal on news stations that whatever their son had been doing was not their fault, but had always just shied away from declaring anything more had just taken the final step and had publicly denounced their son and disowned him on the news.

The hive mind was of the mindset that the leader needed to be told immediately of the information but surprising herself number 47 argued back with the hive mind. "It has already been determined that the parental units of the leader have failed in their duties and telling the leader of their decision to renounce him would only bring the leader grief. This information can wait."

The hive mind was surprised that one of the 'drones' dared to argue with it but after examining the memory core of the unit decided it was correct and countered her own order to inform him.

Ron and the rest of his group were startled when Bebe number 47 stepped next to him and briefly gave him a one armed hug. Ron recovered faster than the rest and before 47 could step away he put an arm around her waist and returned the hug. "What was that for?" He asked the robot.

"This Bebe thought you required the human affection gesture. Is this Bebe in error?"

Ron smiled. "Any time you want to, you may hug me."

Shego eyed the Bebe and wondered to herself if she was going to have to add to her list of women, and plants, trying to steal her Ron away someone she thought up till this point she had nothing to worry about.

"Well if we are going to return to Africa we better get started." She settled for saying out loud.

As the group started to make their way out of the kitchen Ron suddenly asked. "Hey, I just remembered. Where did Yori and the ninjas get off to?"

Shego, Ivy, Bonnie and the Bebes all turned to look at Harley.

Harley looked nervous for a second. "Um, I guess they went for a walk and got lost?" She semi asked.

"Harley." Ron said her name as he folded his arms across his chest.

"Well... We heard from the Bebes that you were coming back home and that ninja bit... um, Yori, was it? Um, she heard us and questioned the Bebe assigned to keep an eye on them which direction you were coming from. Well... I heard her and I may have instructed my Bebe to tell their Bebe to tell them ."

Ron mentally replayed what Harley had blurted out until he figured out she had instructed the Bebes to lie to Yori knowing the ninja woman would rush of to meet him rather than await his arrival like the rest did. Turning he glanced at the Bebe by his side. Number 47. "You Bebes lied to Yori?"

"We were instructed to obey your ladies orders as if it was from yourself as long as it didn't contradict any of your standing orders leader. You gave no instruction regarding misinforming the ninjas of your whereabouts or not following the orders of Harley Quinn when she ordered us. In any case no direct lie was told to them." Ron wasn't entirely sure but he thought he could almost detect a hint of smugness in 47's voice. _"Which of course is impossible. Isn't it?" _Ron thought to himself.

"Wait. What did you tell them then?" Harley asked a moment before Ron could.

"The female leader of the ninjas upset that Bebes would not allow her to go after the Leader Ron tried to play a 'mental' game with the Bebe with her. The female ninja would randomly ask directions and note the Bebe's reaction. Since no direct question was asked of my sister she just ignored the ninja until Harley's order was given. At that point when the female ninja said West, the Bebe with them replied that she could not confirm that the Leader was coming home from that direction. The ninja drew her own conclusions and then attempted to distract the Bebe with them and escaped. As she was heading in the opposite direction of the Leader it fell under Ron's instructions that they were to be allowed to leave as long as they didn't try to come after him." Number 47 turned to look at Ron. "My Bebe sister assigned to them is still following at a distance.

Ron started to order the Bebes to bring Yori back to the lair so she could join them when they went to Africa but Shego's raised eyebrow and her folded arms across her chest caused him to rethink his plans.

"The Bebe with Yori and the ninjas will continue to watch over them and make sure they don't get into too much trouble, right?" Ron settled for asking instead.

"Of course Ron, we would not allow any harm to come to them, and if the female ninja Yori were to become aware she is being followed by our sister and ask us her where you are located we will no longer lie to them and tell them. Do you wish for my sister to contact them now?"

"No." Shego said distinctly.

Ron paused. He knew Yori would be furious when she had learned she had been tricked and by a machine at that, but even though Ron wasn't the best judge when it came to women, he could still tell that Yori and his ladies just didn't mesh well and if she were to join them there would be violence at some point.

He was aware that number 47 was still staring at him, awaiting his orders. "For the moment. No. Don't contact Yori or her ninjas but continue to watch over them."

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Author's note:

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

I know many of you are upset with me on how long these updates have taken. I've mentioned before that I was the caretaker of my ill father. Well, my father finally succumbed to his cancer and passed away on May 24th at the local V.A. Hospital. He passed peacefully in his sleep and did not suffer.

I would like to say that after my grieving that I will be able to dedicate more of my time to writing but as my room and board were provided for me by my father, I suddenly have no income at all. So I will have to pick myself up and shake myself off and start searching for a job. After a nearly 20 year hiatus from the job market as I was caretaker for first my mother before she died and then my father, I do not expect it to be easy or quick.

Rest assured that I'm not abandoning my stories and I will be back with more chapters to them someday, and I hope it will be soon.

Weirdbard.


	33. Chapter 33

Partners in Crime

By Weirdbard

Chapter 33

Ron Stoppable's underground home in Nevada

Ron entered the cavern where the Bebe assembly line was located and noticed that it was once again quiet. All of the Bebes currently in the United States must have been upgraded and the machinery was once again still. Those Bebes currently in foreign countries would wait till they could be relived by the upgraded ones before crossing back for their turn.

This bothered Ron. Perhaps it was his association with the Bebes themselves but he was really starting to dislike delays and inefficiency.

The Bebe hive mind remained in its customary place and it was still guarded by the two silent Bebes on either side of it but other than that, the vast cavern was empty and bare.

As he neared the Hive Mind the giant single 'eye' inside the dome rotated till it was watching him approach. "What assistance may I offer Leader?" The voice inside intoned.

"Can you be moved?" Ron asked.

The Hive Mind didn't seem surprised at the sudden question out of the blue, but then again it was a Bebe so the emotion surprise wasn't really a factor in the first place. "I am fully self contained and while I lack mobility of my own. Yes, I may be moved."

Ron nodded as he idly turned his head and looked at the assembly line machinery. "And the assembly line? Can the parts that are used to repair and upgrade the Ultra Bebes be removed and replaced with standard equipment?"

"Of course Leader but why would you choose to do so?"

"I was thinking of taking the Ultra repair station to Africa with us and setting it up there. I would leave this site as a manufacturing and repair facility for standard Bebes though. If it was possible."

"You wish to begin manufacture of standard Bebes once again?" The Hive Mind asked.

Ron nodded his head. "Going to change the entire world we're going to need more than the Ultra Bebes I fear. I mean you gals are great but not even you can be everywhere at once."

"What purpose will the Ultra Bebes serve if you create a new generation of standard Bebes?" The Hive Mind inquired.

Ron thought for a moment. "The Ultras will be the elite guard, while the standard Bebes can be the normal troops. We'll of course always be searching for a way to upgrade the standard ones to the Ultra level but I have a feeling its not going to be easy to find more of the Luna Stone to do that."

"That is correct Leader. Never has more of that meteorite been reported and there is no way to locate where the meteorite originated from or to travel there to obtain more if the place of origin were to be located. The only other traces of the unique material are contained in a suit or armor and sword in a Japanese museum and this Bebe Hive Mind believes the traces would be too diluted to be of any use to you."

Ron nodded his head once again as he thought.

"Inquiry Leader. Why did you question about the mobility of this unit?"

"Well, I of course want to take you with me if I'm going to move my base to Africa for any length of time. Would you like that?" Ron asked.

The Hive Mind started to reply that it was functional where it was located and with the ability to call upon all the Bebes when needed, it didn't need to be moved to a new location to protect it but to its own surprise it replied with... "I would like to travel with the Leader very much. Thank you."

Ron smiled and patted the dome gently. "Then see to the arrangements. Replace the Ultra equipment with standard parts and obtain the needed supplies and start manufacturing standard Bebes. As soon as they roll off the line program them like the Ultras and then see about having yourself moved to the weather machine that we are going to use to return to Africa."

"It shall be as you command."

Ron raised a hand. "Requested please. I will never order any of you Bebes around as if you were slaves. You are family now." Ron forgot that to the Bebes he was leader and his every request was as good as a command.

As the large eye of the Hive Mind rotated once again out of sight as it began its instructions to the Bebes, Ron left the cavern to see about the last member of his extended family that he was not leaving without.

As the elevator rose up into Ivy's greenhouse, Ron braced himself for what he knew was coming and wasn't surprised as Ivy's guardian plant Baby reached down, picked him up and began kissing.

"Hi beautiful." He greeted the plant as it paused in its 'greeting' of him. "How are you today?"

The large tulip shaped flower turned slightly and if Ron didn't know any better he would have sworn that the plant's coloring darkened momentarily as if it was blushing.

"Are you still seducing my plants Ron?" Ivy's voice from below him called out.

Ron laughed as Baby gently lowered him down to set him beside Poison Ivy. "Actually that is what I wanted to talk to you about. Your plants. Well to be specific, one in particular." Ron stated glancing back up the guardian plant.

"What do you want to know about Baby?" Ivy asked curiously as she to glanced at the large mutant plant. The flower in question didn't retract back into the safety of the gazebo but turned to look at its mistress and then the sweet smelling male she loved to cuddle.

"I was wondering if she can be... What's the term? Um, transplanted?"

"You want to move Baby?" Ivy asked shocked. "Why would you want to move my baby?"

"Well.. We are going to Africa and this time we maybe there for a very long time as we sort out the government problem and you don't want to leave her all alone here do you?"

"Ron she's a plant. I have the automated systems set up to see to her needs and she really doesn't mind being alone for extended periods of time..." Ivy paused as she could see out of the corner of her eye the flower in question seeming to wilt.

Ron looked at her in shock. "I'm surprised at you Ivy. Baby has feelings. Of course she doesn't want to be left behind all alone!"

Ivy blinked as the mutant flower extended her vine until the very large flower bud of her 'face' was nearly resting on Ron's shoulder and looking at her in an almost incriminatory manner.

"I'm being lectured on the feelings of a plant by a male." Ivy said in amazement. Seeing the hurt look in Ron's eyes she was quick to add. "Not that you are a normal male."

The feeling of recrimination coming from your guardian plant seemed to double.

"I meant he was special!" She said in annoyance at her own plant.

Ivy was nearly speechless. She was Poison Ivy! She was never meant to feel awkward or socially clumsy around men! Men were the ones that were rendered speechless by her! Not the other way around. Suddenly she found herself almost girlishly giggling. Something she would never be seen doing by anyone.

"Okay Ron. Its obvious that you have been thinking about this and you are right. Baby would probably feel lonely and abandoned if we had to be away for like a year or so. And yes, the answer to your question is she can be transplanted if I had a large enough planter to do it in but I don't have nearly anything as large as I would need to do that on hand."

Ron glanced at the Bebe assigned to look after Ivy. He had never countered the orders yet and to be honest he hadn't even thought about the fact that each of his 'ladies' still had a silent escort with them till now. Blinking, he glanced over his own shoulder unoccupied by Baby and sure enough Bebe number 47 was right behind him and slightly to the side.

"Have some of your fellow sisters still in our home go to my personal bathroom and rip out the large claw foot tub that is in there and bring it up to the greenhouse, please and thank you." Ron instructed 47.

The Bebe nodded as Ron turned back to Ivy. "Will that do?"

Ivy still grinning nodded her head. "That'll do it."

As Ron descended in the elevator back to the ground floor, Ivy gently patted the mutant flower. "Well Baby, it looks like you are going on a field trip to Africa with us. Are you excited?"

Ivy once again laughed out loud as the mutant flower began bobbing its head up and down rapidly.

Back in Middletown

William Du sat on the very couch he had made love to Megan just a day earlier. Idly he ran one of his hands over the couch cushions as he tried to remember past the drunken haze in his mind of their time together. In his other hand he gripped a massive handgun that he had purchased from some street punks a short time ago. He would have preferred a simple .38 caliber but all the punks had was the .357. The noise would be horrendous and unfortunate but it would get the job done and Du would easily have time to get away using Global Justice's series of hidden subsurface travel tubes before the local police could be summoned to investigate.

While Du practiced shooting at a range many a time and even though he had tried to take a shot at Ron Stoppable, he had never actually gunned someone down before and Du was wondering if it came down to it, could he actually shoot someone in cold blood? Especially someone he had sex with just the night before even if he was now having trouble remembering it.

Remembering how the woman had plied him with alcohol and must have planned all along to use him, as she had the tape recorder and tapes ready, Du thought to himself not only could he eliminate her but he had a sneaking suspicion that he might enjoy doing it as well.

Hearing the noise of keys jingling in a lock, Du quickly turned off the lamp beside him plunging the room into semi darkness. He had already taken the precaution of closing all the blinds and shutting the curtains after searching the apartment for the tapes. Du had eventually found the tapes stored in a box behind Megan's computer and from a shipping label on the side he could tell that she had taken the precaution of having the tapes shipped to her to keep them away from him but then had foolishly brought them back to her home once she had received the shipment. A amateur mistake but one that benefited Du. Du could have left right then and there but even without the damning evidence Megan still knew too much about him and Global Justice and to protect the agency she had to die.

As Megan opened her door she strolled into the apartment letting the door swing shut behind her before realizing how dark it was. Fumbling slightly she flipped a switch next to the door and frowned when the lights didn't immediately spring to life. "Oh come on. I paid my bills." She muttered thinking the electricity might have been shut off. It wouldn't have been the first time.

"You haven't even begun to pay your bill to me." Du muttered out loud as he clicked on the lamp next to him.

Megan blinked a few times as her mind tried to catch up to the reality she was facing. A man she had thought to never see again was casually sitting on her couch and he was holding... a massively large handgun resting in his lap.

"Du.. Baby. What are you doing here?" She asked nervously as she tried to back away and bumped into the closed door behind her.

"No, don't leave Meg... I was so drunk that night I don't really remember our having sex that well. Maybe we could reenact that part but this time without you taping every damn thing I say." Du said in a cold voice that sent chills down her spine.

Megan's first thought was Du was planning on raping her to get his revenge.

Spying the box of tapes sitting on the couch next to him she knew she had no chance to deny his accusations, not with the evidence sitting there right next to him and nervously she swallowed.

Why, oh why did she bring the box back to her apartment from her old job at the trash paper when she resigned this morning before going on that early morning tv show? She should have either left it at her new office or rented a storage locker somewhere and left it there but her personal computer was here and she didn't want to risk transcribing the tapes anywhere else and risk her scoop getting out.

Briefly Megan thought about spinning around and bolting out the door but she feared he would shoot her in the back if she did, and she honestly thought she could control the irate man with sweet talk and promise of her body like she had that night and if things got out of hand and the sex got a little rough?

Well, she might have a few bruises the next day but she was willing if that was what it took to appease the angry man. Du was just so clean cut and innocent looking she didn't think he would demand more than that from her or she might have feared for her life.

"Now I know you might be upset Love." Megan said as she slowly moved towards where Du was sitting on her couch.

"On your knees." Du demanded in a calm cold voice as she neared him.

"What?" Megan asked confused.

"Get on your knees." Du repeated.

Megan slowly lowered herself until she was sitting on her knees in front of Du watching him like a hawk for any sudden moves. Du however continued to sit on the couch with the hand gun resting in his lap.

"Suck it." Du said distinctly.

Megan's eyes were drawn to Du's crotch.

"No. Suck it!" Du said suddenly thrusting the large handgun into her face and almost chipping her tooth as she pulled back.

"Dewy baby I know you are upset but..." Megan started but was cut off as her cheek exploded into pain as Du reacting faster than Megan would have given him credit for, pistol whipped her across it with the barrel of the large handgun. Megan was knocked by the unexpected attack into falling on her side to the floor. Rolling over on to her back with a whimper she brought her hand up to her face and looked up in horror at the man who taken a spot directly above her straddling her.

"Upset?" Du asked in a calm voice. "Why should I be upset? Just because I worked almost my entire life to become the best agent Global Justice has ever had, only to have that brought into jeopardy because of some cheap bar whore? Some red headed whore that thinks to use me as some kind of fast lazy ticket to her own personal glory? Some cheap booze filled whore that could get me declared a traitor?"

Even being scared nearly out of her mind by Du's actions and with her face hurting like hell, Megan could feel her Irish blood flare into rage. "Whore? I'm no whore you asshole. And the way you were so eager to whine and bitch and moan about your job? Maybe deep down you are a traitor!" She growled back at Du as she tried to rise but stopped as the business end of the massive handgun suddenly slammed painfully into her chest pushing her back and pinning her against the floor and forcibly reminding her that Du was not acting rationally and she was on very thin ice.

"Du don't be stupid and do something hasty! You don't want to do this." Megan said, deliberately gentling her voice and put a note of huskiness in to it as well to try and calm him.

"I'm tired of bitches... Especially red headed ones, telling me what to do." Du growled.

Megan opened her mouth to reply but was stopped when a noise sounding louder than a cannon rang out in the apartment. Feeling a burning sensation between her breasts, Megan glanced down to see what looked like a tendril of smoke rising, followed by a bright and rapidly spreading blossom of red on her blouse. With her eyes widening in horror and realization, Megan Orla fell back and gave one spasm and died. Her eyes still open and staring upwards in shock at Du.

Du stood momentarily paralyzed by what he had done. He was standing over the sprawled body of what used to be a young, vibrant, sexy unarmed woman who was now dead by his hand and... He had one raging throbbing hard-on between his legs. For a split second his mind contemplated tearing the dead woman's clothing off and... Du recoiled in horror at the image his mind was painting before regaining control of his reason.

He may have killed someone as they lay defenseless on the floor but he was still an agent of Global Justice and he vowed he would never sink so low as to sexually molest a corpse!

In the back of him mind however was the thought that if there had been a live woman in the room with him at that moment, he had no doubts the sex would have been mind blowing. Du had never felt before in his life as turned on as he was right at that exact moment.

So the question had been asked by Fate and answered for him. He had always enjoyed the power that his position in Global Justice gave him over underlings but now he found a new kind of rush, a stronger, more exhilarating rush than he could ever imagine.

The power of life and death over someone.

Eliminating someone who stood in his way and dared to challenge and question his dominance.

As Du stared down at the dead woman for a brief moment the image of Mega's face blurred and was replaced by another woman, a woman with an eye patch over one eye and Du's hard-on twitched painfully. Shaking his head violently side to side Du cleared his mind and grabbed up the box of tapes up from the couch and glanced over at the computer sitting on a desk nearby.

Du knew nothing of technology other than logging on occasionally with a password and checking his e-mail. Hell, Du didn't even own a DVD player considering that stuff to be a fruitless waste of time. And for his position at Global Justice? That was why global Justice had its own geeks and nerds like Wade on call was to handle that crap so more important agents like him didn't need to be bogged down with tech stuff.

Could it be possible that Megan had somehow transferred the contents of the tapes to her computer? After all, the tapes had been in a box near the computer when he found them and storing them digitally would probably make it easier for her to edit and prepare them for broadcast.

Du considered for just a moment before raising the .357 and firing two rounds into the monitor sitting on the desk blowing it and a keyboard to pieces. _"That should handle it."_ Du thought to himself as he looked over the wreckage on the desk.

As Du left the apartment, silence returned. The neighbors not yet finding the courage to make a noise to draw attention to themselves and certainly none were brave enough to stick their heads out their doors to see what the obvious gun shots had been about.

The only noise in the apartment came from the faint whirring sound of the fans on the computer tower hidden behind a cabinet door on the bottom of the desk. On the computer's hard drive a folder entitled "mysuccess" contained the transcribed contents and digitized sound files of the tapes Megan had managed to make earlier that day before going off to look at new and better apartments for her to move to.

Meanwhile... At a cheap hotel near the Nevada border

Drakken had feared that the Joker would make him drive nonstop to Ron Stoppable's underground home but after almost crashing the car because he had fallen asleep at the wheel yet again, the Joker had ordered Drakken to pull into the nearest convenient, but still slightly out of the way motel's parking lot.

After having Drakken park the car, the Joker had insisted that Drakken bring in the magnetic pulse grenades rather than risk someone stealing their only weapon to be used against the Bebes.

As they entered the motel's lobby, which had seen better days, Drakken had wracked his brains on how to explain to the clerk inside why a man with a dead white face and another with blue/purple skin needed a room for the night and why instead of luggage he was carrying several large boxes but found he had worried unnecessarily because as soon as they came within striking distance the Joker had simply sprayed the man in a face with his Smilex formula from a flower in his lapel.

As the man lay dying on the ground laughing, his face already stretching into a horrible grin, the Joker had went around the desk stepping over the dying man and snagged a key from a pegboard and commented. "It's good to see people who actually enjoy their jobs and can take the time to laugh and smile."

Drakken feeling sick tried to look anywhere but at the dying laughing man and unfortunately found his eyes zeroing in to a photo sitting on the desk. He could see that the picture was of the now dead man holding up a young boy wearing a baseball uniform at what had obviously been a victorious game. Yet another family man cruelly cut down by the mad man that Drakken had tied his fates to. Another heavy lead weight added to Drakken's soul inevitably weighing him down and bound to drag his soul to Hell once he died.

The Joker made a few more tasteless jokes about the poor dead man but Drakken found that he really didn't hear the jokes but forced himself to chuckle never the less when the Joker went quiet, just to appease the mad man as Drakken continued to stare at the photo on the desk. Drakken of course never had any children of his own and he doubted deep down that he would have made a very good father in the first place but he couldn't rid himself of the thought that he had just helped to eliminate what, if the photo was showing was a true indication, a very good and caring father.

Drakken couldn't remember any of the journey down the hallway to the cheap motel room he found himself in and could only could hope that the Joker hadn't killed anyone else between the lobby and the room.

Walking as if a zombie, Drakken had sat the boxes down in the corner of the room and then excused himself to go to the bathroom planning on bolting out the window and escaping to the desert outside but was a bit perturbed to find out that all the Hollywood movies had lied to him yet again.

In every movie Drakken had ever seen that had a hotel or motel in them, the motel room had a window in the bathroom so a person could make their escape that way but sadly in real life it was apparent that the architects of such buildings had never seen the same movies and did not include the handy escape routes. The only source of ventilation in the bathroom was a tiny vent in the ceiling that Drakken doubted even that pink mole rat of Stoppable's could have made use of.

Quietly returning to the bedroom, Drakken spotted the Joker lounging in a chair propped up against the motel room door. The Joker had his eyes closed and for all extent and purposes appeared to be asleep. Drakken briefly thought about finding something and sneaking up on the Joker and clubbing him and then running...

As Drakken shifted his foot to inch in the Joker's direction, the killer clown's eyes flew open and pinned him under their manic glare.

"I can't sleep." Drakken mumbled apologetically and instead of moving toward the only bed in the room, Drakken returned to his corner with his boxes. In that moment he lowered himself to the floor he made his decision and this time he was going to stick with it. "I'm worried about the Bebes. As you know they are going to be our greatest obstacle to your path of vengeance. Perhaps I should recheck the grenades to make sure they are in perfect working order? We may only have moments to make use of the grenades before the Bebes attack."

The Joker seemed to consider. "That's not a bad idea. Just don't accidentally set one of those things off in here. I need my beauty sleep." The killer clown gave off one of his high pitched cackles that made Drakken's blood run cold and then closed his eyes again and appeared to go instantly to sleep but Drakken was under no illusion that the maniac wouldn't spring to life if he even attempted to get near him.

Drakken quietly sighed and opening a box he removed a device about the same size as a billiard ball and taking a micro screwdriver out of his pocket he pried up a small access panel on its side. Slipping a pair of magnifying glasses on his face he peered into the device by the light of a dim lamp in the room. There wasn't much to see anyway. Just some wires leading from the recessed push button on the side to a small but powerful cube that when detonated released the magnetic pulse. The wires were attached so the device was 'armed' and only awaiting the push of the button to detonate.

Drakken paused for a long moment. He knew that it was most likely with Ron Stoppable being the Bebe's leader that they would have to go through a gauntlet of Bebes to get to him and if the Bebes were not restricted or handicapped in any way, him and the Joker stood about much of a chance as the mythical ice cube in Hell of making it.

What Drakken was considering was basically a death sentence for both him and the Joker but frankly Drakken's soul could no longer take the horrors that the Joker considered amusement. Taking the micro screwdriver he quickly hooked it under the tiny wires and with a decisive twitch of his hand ripped the wires free from their circuit and for good measure pulled the wires completely out of the device entirely before shoving the loose wires in a pocket of his lab coat, in effect making the bomb a dud that could now never explode.

Glancing over at the Joker, Drakken was relieved that the man hadn't stirred.

"_Well... One down and about two hundred to go."_ Drakken thought to himself. He knew in one way or another he was basically signing his own death warrant, if not from the Bebes then by the Joker when he found out what he had done but this was one time he was going to do the right thing even if it killed him. Drakken nervously gulped as he realized that exactly was what was going to happen.

The fainest of grins, the first to cross Drakken's battered and abused face in a very long time, appeared as Drakken thought to himself. _"If I knew I was just going to end up sabotaging my own weapons, I wouldn't have made so many of these damn things."_

Global Justice

As Dr. Director came out of her office, the computer technicians on duty tried to gather up enough courage to tell her about the earlier news report about a reporter having information on Global Justice and planning on revealing it that night on TV when a blip went off on the large digital map of the United States.

"What is that?" Dr. Director asked pointing at it.

"The locator beacon on Du's car just went online. We have a fix on its location. It's just outside of Las Vegas."

"Something is actually going right for a change?" Dr. Director seemed surprised. "Wait, where is Du anyway?"

"I'm here." Du replied curtly as he strolled into the room.

Dr. Director spared him a glance and then did a double take to eye him curiously. For one thing he was out of uniform yet again, wearing a long dark coat and a light sheen of sweat shined on his forehead. Mentally she shrugged and pointed at the map. "What do you make of this? Your car has been found outside of Las Vegas."

Du's eyes gleamed. "Just outside of a town that was the scene of Stoppable's first criminal act. I say it is too much of a coincidence."

Dr. Director frowned. "I hate to admit it but you might be right. Maybe it was Stoppable that stole your car to make his escape that night?"

Suddenly the blip on the map disappeared. Obviously the beacon had been located and destroyed.

Du turned to Dr. Director. "I demand to be in charge of the task force that goes to recover my car on the off chance it is Stoppable!"

The frown on Dr. Director's face deepened. She didn't like the way that Du was seemingly ordering her around nor the way his hand dropped to the coat pocket of the jacket he was wearing but she mentally shook it off as her being paranoid. Du was the best agent she had now that Kim Possible had gone rogue and it was after all his car that had been stolen. She nodded her head. "You have permission. Gather your team."

"Do I have authorization to use deadly force on Stoppable and his hench people?" Du asked eagerly.

"No." Dr. Director stated. "Again you are not certified for lethal force. However..." She said when it was obvious he was about to argue. "You do have authorization to use armored vehicles and do whatever it takes to stop the Bebes if they try to interfere with the capture of Stoppable."

Du let a slow grin appear on his face. Dr. Director was basically giving him free reign to kill anyone he wanted to as he could always claim later that the deadly force was aimed at the Bebes and someone else just got in the way of it.

Dr. Director felt a spasm of pain behind her eyepatch and almost counter her orders. That grin on Du's face was just unnerving and not normal for him. There was also the way he had not yet removed his hand from his coat pocket. It was almost in the manner of someone clutching a hand gun but she really didn't believe that Du would be as foolish as to obtain another one after being so severely reprimanded the last time.

Kim Possible's Uncle's ranch

Kim had been delighted and a little surprised to find once they made it to her uncle's house that Wade was already there and waiting for them. Not only had he somehow managed to beat them there, he had enough time to apparently settle in as he had his computers set up and was busy integrating them into Slim's own systems.

Monique walked over and leaned on the back of the chair that Wade was sitting in as he studied his monitors. "What? You didn't come out to greet us and no hello for me?" She asked him.

Wade glanced back and then to his embarrassment started blushing. "I would have gone out with the Possibles and the twins to welcome you and Kim but I'm setting up my computers to hack into and scan Global Justice's systems without their knowledge to get some leads on where the Joker or Drakken might strike next."

Bruce was by their side in an instant and watching the monitors as well. "Anything yet?"

Wade returned his attention from Monique back to his monitors. "Well... Agent Du's car apparently was stolen and recently located outside of Las Vegas..."

Before he finished speaking, Kim who had been greeting her uncle and her father had joined the group huddled around the computers and was staring at the monitors as well. "Its Ron. It has to be. He must have stolen Du's car that night to make his escape."

"Now Kim..." Wade said. "There are hundreds of cars stolen every single night and its just silly to assume that Ron had to be the one to steal Du's car."

"And it just happened to be located just outside of Las Vegas?" Kim countered. "A place where Ron robbed a casino?"

"Just because Ron committed a crime near there, there is no reason to assume that Ron.. What? Has a lair there? I mean who moves near to a place where they plan to hold a major robbery?"

"No. Its Ron I know it is." Kim replied confidently.

The blip on the monitor suddenly went dark.

"What happened?" Monique asked.

"Either Global Justice remotely turned off the beacon or someone found it and disabled it." Wade replied. He studied another monitor for a moment. "Well Kim it seems Global Justice believes it might be Ron too. I just intercepted a supply request from Du for armored vehicles to be airlifted along with agents to Nevada. Du is going to head up the task force it seems."

"Why do you assume that they think its Ron as well?" Monique asked. "Maybe Du is just eager to get whoever it was that stole his personal car?"

"I'm assuming that Global Justice would not authorize the use of heavy armored vehicles unless they expect to run into the Bebe robots." Bruce Wayne replied for Wade.

Kim nodded her head. "And as we now know, where there are Bebes there is Ron." Kim slowly shook her head. "Du, agents, armored vehicles and Bebe robots? It'll be a blood bath." Kim even though she was nearly exhausted by the long ride to her uncle's ranch nodded her head as she reached a decision. "Wade? Considering that we are closer to that signal than Du is, how much of a lead will we have on him with him airlifting his vehicles to Nevada?"

Wade frowned. "Not much of a lead at all Kim. I mean, like you pointed out they are going by air while you would have to take a car, unless I can find someone who owes you a favor going that way by something more speedier."

"No time. I'm going to leave now."

"Kim what are you thinking?" Her mother asked.

"We know Du is out to get Ron and from the way Batman here stopped Du from gunning him down at home, we know he's not going to be gentle about it. I have to warn Ron and try to bring him in before Global Justice can get to him first."

"Then I'm going as well." Monique said crossing her arms.

"What? No. You don't need to go with me." Kim replied.

"Oh really girlfriend? Who is going to be watching your back then?"

Bruce Wayne nodded. "I'm going."

Kim frowned. "You drove here. You have to be exhausted. No one is going but me. I have to bring Ron to his senses and get him to come in before he gets himself or anyone else killed."

Monique sighed and shook her head. "You are forgetting that Shego is with Ron. So you are probably going to have to fight your way through her to get to him." Monique glanced at Batman. "And no offense to you Bruce but I don't trust you to watch Kim's back when Ivy and Harley Quinn will probably be there as well. You'll want to capture them I'm guessing so that leaves Kim's back unprotected. I'm going."

Mrs. Possible, who had been standing a short distance away, walked up. "I'm going as well."

"What? No mom! Monique might be right in that I'll need Bruce and her help dealing with the others but why should you go as well?"

"Because there is a very good chance that Ron won't listen to you Kim. So much has happened between you two that he might think your warning is just some plan to get him back. But Ron will listen to me, I know he will."

"I hate to admit it Kim but your mom has a point. Of all of us, the only one Ron is most likely to listen to at this point is your mom." Monique said.

Wade glanced back at Kim. "If you are going, you better go now because Global Justice is pulling out all the stops."

Mr. Possible, his brother and the twins walked up. "What? No one is going. I am putting my foot down." Mr. Possible stated.

"Dear? Shut up." Mrs. Possible said.

Mr. Possible opened and shut his mouth several times in shock.

"Ron Stoppable is as much one of my kids as Kim or the twins are as far as I am concerned. I know for a fact that the stuff he is being accused of by the news is nothing but lies and I am not going to stand around and let some government hit agency kill my boy just to cover up what they are doing! Now I'm going to go and bring Ron back and if you don't like it..." She let her threat hanging knowing he knew exactly what she meant.

"Brother, remember what dad used to always say?" Slim asked.

James Possible sighed. "Never argue with a determined woman. You are never going to win the argument and only end up sleeping alone." He looked to his wife. "I really don't like this."

"I'm not thrilled either." Mrs. Possible admitted. "But I have to do what I have to do."

Monique blinked and looked around. "Where did Bruce get to?" She asked.

Everyone looked around and noticed that indeed the mystery man had somehow managed to disappear. Looking over at the doorway to the room Monique replied softly. "Oh."

Glancing over they saw that the dark haired man was gone and in his place was a figure dressed in armor that made him look like a bat. If that bat had been crossed with a demon knight from Hell.

"That is so cool." One of the twins breathed.

"I bet that the cowl part has Kevlar in it." The other replied.

Kim looked on in confusion. "Why did you...?"

"We are going to where we'll most likely run into Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn." Monique reminded her. "Remember Bruce doesn't want them to recognize him?"

"Please call me Batman once again for that reason." Batman reminded them.

As James Possible, the twin boys, Wade and Slim watched the tail lights of Dr. Director's stolen car fade off into the night, James breathed. "Be safe my love." And a moment later he added. "And do bring Ron back home safely." He may not like the idea that the boy wanted to touch his little girl but even he had to admit the boy was honorable and loyal to a fault and didn't deserve what fate had dished out to him.

Approximately 8 ½ hours later, as dawn breaks over Nevada.

Drakken stifled the urge to yawn largely as he pulled the car to a stop a short distance away from the boat dock on the edge of the man made lake that separated the outside world from the entrance to Ron Stoppable's underground lair/home. On the one hand Drakken was terrified of the pain he knew was about to come but on the other hand he was resigned to his fate and wanted the end to happen and get it over with.

For someone who seemed so manic about hunting down Harley Quinn and killing everyone around her, the Joker had delayed their arrival. First Drakken had to wait for the mad man to wake and then the man had insisted they find a out of the way diner.

Drakken shuddered as he remembered the horrorfest that had been. At this point he should have known what was coming but he had still driven till he found a place only to watch as the Joker slaughtered everyone inside the diner and then forced him to cook breakfast for him.

Drakken would have poisoned his food but he couldn't find anything in the kitchen of the diner to do it with and on second thought realized nothing he could slip into the Joker's food would probably kill him. After all, the man's own blood was toxic in the extreme.

The Joker had still accused him of trying to and beat him severely.

Was it Drakken's fault that he was a hopelessly horrible cook? If the mad man wanted decent food he should have made the cook of the diner make something before he cut his throat with a joker playing card.

And what the white faced ghoul had done to the waitress that was on duty when they had arrived? Drakken shivered again. Never again would he ever eat fried foods after seeing the woman held face down in the deep fryer by the Joker.

"It won't take long for the Bebes to realize we are here and start to swarm." He warned the Joker, only because the monster in human form was staring at him again.

"Then we'll storm the dock, capture the boat and cross the moat before they can." The Joker replied excitedly.

Drakken snorted but softly. More likely the minute they stepped out of the car they would be cut to ribbons. And even if they managed to reach the boat and cross the lake that wouldn't stop or even slow down the Bebes. The Joker had no idea just what the Bebes were capable of and Drakken sure wasn't going to try and inform him now. Drakken handed the Joker a now harmless box of magnetic pulse grenades. "Lead the way and I'll follow."

The Joker eyed him suspiciously but accepted the box never the less. With a loud cackle, the Joker kicked his door open and began running for the dock. Drakken with a sigh, merely opened his own door and getting out leaned against the side of the car and... waited.

He only had to wait a moment when a high pitch 'zing' noise was heard and he wasn't surprised in the least when he glanced to his side to see a Bebe silently standing there. The only noise was the sighing of the wind and the slight pinging noises as the superheated body of the Bebe cooled in the early morning light.

"Just make it quick is all I ask." Drakken stated as he closed his eyes. After a moment of silence with nothing happening, he opened them again to see the Bebe watching him. "There are no orders concerning Dr. Drakken." The Bebe finally informed him.

Drakken almost chuckled before replying. "Forgotten again. So where does that leave us?"

"This Bebe is conferring with her sisters on what is to be done with you." The Bebe stated almost matter of factly.

A car roared down the road towards the underground home and pulling to a stop near them. Both the Bebe and Drakken watched as Kim Possible, Ann Possible, the black woman that Drakken couldn't remember what her name was and the Batman scrambled to get out of the car. The group spared him a glance but then spotting the Joker running towards the dock took off after him.

"Why not Stoppable or Shego? I'm sure she wouldn't hesitate to tell you what to do with me." Drakken asked as if the arrival of Kim Possible and Batman hadn't happened.

"The Leader Ron, Shego, Poison Ivy, Harley Quinn and Dr. Mozenberg are currently over the Atlantic Ocean and are temporarily out of communication range with the Bebes."

Drakken blinked but then realized that Ron must have decided to return to Africa. "And the Hive Mind?"

"Ron decided to take her with him as well."

Drakken noticed the personal pronouns but decided to leave it for a moment. "What about the Joker?" He said nodding to where the man had almost reached the dock before two Bebes suddenly appeared in front of him blocking his access to the dock.

"He is to be terminated on sight. The leader has commanded it."

Drakken cocked his head slightly to the side. "The boy is smarter than I ever gave him credit for. I'm just now realizing that."

The Bebe watched her creator for a moment. "What is the boy's name?" She asked surprising Drakken. Was that a note of recrimination in his creation's voice? When did the Bebes learn how to imitate so perfectly real humans?

Drakken smiled, the first real one in a very long time as he realized for the very first time he didn't have to struggle to remember the name. "His name is Ronald Dean Stoppable and I now know why I had such a mental block about him."

The Bebe didn't reply but just silently continued to stare at him.

"He is every thing I wanted to be in life. He effortlessly thwarted my plans. He feared every time he faced Shego or me when we were on opposite sides yet unlike me he never faltered or gave up.

He's won Shego's affection and loyalty. He's won your loyalty." Drakken turned to look at his creation fully. "He has helped you to begin your evolution towards being a true lifeform and not just a mere robot made in a woman's image. Something I always wanted to see but never could bring about." Drakken was silent for a moment and then added. "And you know what? I think he may just actually manage to take over the world and rebuild it in the image he wants it to be." Drakken sighed. "And I find myself really hoping he succeeds and yearning to see the world Stoppable will create."

Hearing the Joker cursing loudly, Drakken glanced over in that direction. "I take it that the Joker just realized I gave him neutered weapons?"

The Bebe also looked in their direction. "The weapons would not have worked in any case. Ron suggested upgrades that made the magnetic pulse weapons useless against the Ultras."

Still casually as if he and the Bebe were just chatting about the weather, Drakken replied. "Oh? Like what?"

"Magnetic shielding for our eyes and redundant communication equipment and permanent installation of repair nanities inside the Bebe bodies."

"Now why didn't I think of that?" Drakken asked.

From the distance he could see Batman and Kim dancing around the Joker as the two Bebes circled them. "What's going on now?"

"The Joker is to be executed by order of the Leader Ron but Batman and Kim Possible are shielding him making it impossible for the Bebes to carry out their orders."

"Why would they do something stupid like try to protect that rabid animal?" Drakken asked out loud. To the Bebe he added. "Shall we go over and see for ourselves?"

The Bebe's eyes flashed as she once again conferred with her sisters but without the Hive Mind or Ron Stoppable to render a final decision, they just couldn't reach a decision on what was to be done with Drakken.

Some of the Bebes made the argument he should be executed immediately for bringing the Joker to Ron's home but others argued that Ron would have offered Drakken mercy and would have granted him a second, or would it be third or fourth chance?

The Bebe with Drakken inserted into the discussion the fact that she had learned from Drakken that he had admitted to rendering the weapons he gave the Joker useless.

The very fact that some of the Bebes had differing opinions from the others was a milestone that they acknowledged for a millisecond before continuing the debate over their past creator's fate.

The Bebe with Drakken mentally tuned out the ongoing debate with her sisters. Oh she still was aware of the ebb and flow of the discussion but just wasn't actively engaging in it any more. Making a decision for herself, she gestured for Drakken to proceed her. "Yes, Dr. Drakken let us join them."

Drakken in no hurry slowly strolled over to the group as if he had all the time in the world. As he neared, the Joker began to curse him.

"You worm. You slimy diseased worm. You rigged these bombs so they wouldn't work didn't you?"

Drakken gave a casual shrug and didn't bother to deny the Joker's accusations. "What's the use of being a worm if you can't turn?" He finally asked.

The Joker made as if to lunge in his direction from behind the Batman's back but one of the two Bebes facing Batman and the group shifted positions as if to spear him with her hands if he did.

Kim watching the other Bebe and moving to keep herself between it and the Joker called out to him. "Drakken call off the Bebes. Batman and I are going to take the Joker into custody."

"Sorry Possible. The Bebes no longer listen to me. They are following Ron Stoppable's orders now. And he wants Joker dead."

Kim was so shocked she almost stopped moving, almost allowing the Bebe in front of her to get past her guard to the Joker. "Ron ordered them to kill him? And since when do you call Ron by his name. I can't believe you actually remembered his name!"

Drakken gave a shrug. "I've seen a lot in a very short time and learned a few things about myself and about a man I so wrongly accused for such a long time of being a buffoon. In the end I realized I'll never be half the man that Stoppable is, and that it was I that was the buffoon."

Monique and Ann Possible had been watching the dance of Kim and Batman around the Joker with frowns on their faces. Ann looked at Drakken in the early morning light and then did a double take. "What wrong with your coloring Drew?"

Drakken rubbed his face. "Bruises. The Joker is a lot rougher a partner than Shego ever was."

"No, I don't mean the bruises. I mean your blue coloring."

Drakken grimaced. "We've been over that before Ann. I don't know why I'm blue."

"No Dr. Drakken. What Dr. Possible is referring to his your blue tint is fading away." The Bebe with him replied.

Drakken blinked in shock. "It is?" Pulling off his gloves he held up his hands to the dawn's early morning light and stared at them in shock. They were right. His blue coloring was slowly fading to a normal healthy looking human color.

"This is all very well and good." Batman decided to speak up. "But if we don't do something soon these robots are going to get past our guard and kill the Joker."

Drakken shrugged. "Why not let them? He certainly deserves it."

Monique nodded her head. "Yeah Kim, why are you protecting that thing? He was going to kill your own mother! Not to mention me girlfriend! Let the Bebes rip him apart!"

"Because he is unarmed! It would be cold blooded murder!" Kim shouted back.

"Correction." The Bebe with Drakken said. "The Joker is armed with razor playing cards. He carries a exploding device disguised as a novelty toy called a whoopie cushion in a concealed pocket. He is wearing a flower on his lapel that shoots a chemical that this Bebe rates at 90 percent probability is the drug that he uses to kill his victims with the laughing death and on his right hand is a device capable of delivering a lethal charge of electricity disguised as a novelty toy known as a joy buzzer."

"Someone has been talking about me. My fame proceeds me." The Joker cackled.

Kim shook her head angrily but she did spare a glace at the man that was at her unprotected back as she guarded him from the Bebes. "It doesn't matter. If the Bebes kill him under Ron's orders it'll be like Ron did it himself. Why would Ron order them to kill him?"

"The leader ordered it because the Joker threatens his family's safety."

"I don't even know his family. Though... If I did I would have dropped them a surprise package so he isn't totally wrong." The Joker said with a sick smile.

"The leader Ron no longer acknowledges his biological family but now considers his family to consist of Shego, Bonnie, Harley Quinn, Poison Ivy and the Bebes. Ron also considers Dr. Ann Possible as a second mother." Both Bebes trying to get to him stated at the same time.

Drakken shook his head slowly side to side. "You should never have tried to kill Ann. I knew that would bring the boy's wrath down on you."

Monique folded her arms across her chest. "Why is it everyone keeps trying to forget that he was planning on killing me as well? And W.I.T.S.W.F.? Why isn't my name mentioned?"

Everyone turned to look at her. "What?"

"What does W.I.T.S.W.F. Mean?" Ann Possible asked.

"What Is This Shit With Family? I don't rate?" Monique explained. A bit piqued that the Bebes hadn't included her in Ron's extended family.

"The leader considers you a valued friend but felt you would more likely take Kim's side over his."

"Yeah? Well baby boy is wrong."

Kim once again faltered a step as she heard Monique's reply and had to swiftly step to the side to cover the Joker as one of the Bebes shoved her razor like hand towards him. The hand came to a stop a scant inch from Kim's chest and retracted. As the Bebe stepped back to begin circling once again, Kim shot an angry look at Monique. "What do you mean he's wrong?"

"You didn't sit tied to a chair watching your mother strapped to your dinning room table about to be slaughtered Kim!" Monique shouted back. "Of course I think Ron is right for ordering him to be killed. He's too dangerous!"

"That's why Batman and I are going to take him back to face justice for what he has done."

The Bebes circling her and Batman suddenly stopped and both of them turned to look at her. "Justice? What justice do you seek to take him too? News and police reports have determined that the deaths outside of the Possible residence were the actions of the leader Ron. The police will not even listen to your explanations."

"We will hold him until I can get the Pandimensional portal device and send us back to our world. There I will turn him over to Gotham police for his crimes he has committed there." Batman told them.

One of the Bebes that had been circling them turned her attention to Batman. "And how many times have you turned him over to the justice system of your dimension only to have them judge him insane and put him into Arkham only to escape and begin his horrors again?"

Batman narrowed his eyes at the Bebe. "How do you know of Arkham?" And then answered his own question. "Harley and Ivy."

"HOW MANY TIMES?" The Bebe emotionally roared shocking them all. "How many innocent people have died? How many women abused and maimed? How many children left without fathers? How many children themselves left with smiles forever etched on their tiny faces? HOW MANY?"

Kim could only gape at the Bebe. If she didn't know it was impossible she would almost think the machine was crying as it accused the Batman. She spared a glance at Drakken and saw him sadly smiling.

"My Bebes have all grown up." He said quietly. "Pity I had nothing to do with it."

"This is insane." Kim stated drawing the attention of the Bebe again. "What do you care one way or another what the Joker has done in their dimension?" She asked the Bebe that had... Kim couldn't even believe she was thinking of the concept of a Bebe having an emotional outburst.

The Bebe turned her attention to Kim. "If you do not care... Then I fear for your humanity." The machine said shocking Kim to her core. The Bebe turned her attention back to the Batman. "And if you fear that you will stain or darken your soul by killing the Joker yourself, stand aside and let us Bebes that have no souls do it."

"The state of my soul doesn't enter the equation." Batman gritted out. "It is what is right and what is not. I am not a judge or a jury to decide his fate."

"And while the good people stand by waiting for a appointed human to make these decisions. Pain, misery and torment is left to run rampant. This is why the leader Ron decided it was necessary for him to act. To stop the wrongs while everyone else waits for a complicated system that has broken down to react and save them."

"Your leader is wrong." Batman stated.

Drakken shook his head. "You are wasting your time. You are not going to win this argument and you are not going to be able to stop the Joker from being executed by the Bebes because sooner or later they are just going to..." Drakken was interrupted by two high pitched zing noises as more Bebes appeared. "Call for reinforcements." Drakken finished with a sigh. In truth he had wondered why it had took them so long to show up.

He had no way of knowing that Ron had ordered the manufacture of more standard Bebes so the Ultras had journeyed far from the underground assembly line to acquire the raw materials to do so, not wanting to accidentally lead the authorities back to their base by getting the material too close to where it was being utilized. More Bebes were being recalled but even with their super speeds it might be hours before they showed.

Now that Kim and Batman were outnumbered by the Bebes, Drakken had no doubts that the first two would simply pick Kim and Batman up and hold them in their unbreakable arms while the others simply slaughtered the Joker where he stood. It was obvious that the only thing that had kept them at bay in the first place was they didn't want to hurt Batman or Kim in trying to get to the Joker. Now there was no problem.

And indeed it looked like that was exactly what the Bebes had in mind as they began to close in on the small group when they all suddenly stopped and as one looked towards the horizon.

"What is it?" He asked the Bebe that had obviously took it upon herself to guard him until they decided what to do with him.

"A large force of heavily armored vehicles are heading in this direction." She replied to him

"Oh crap! Global Justice! We completely forgot about them!" Monique yelled. She turned to one of the nearest Bebes to her. "You have to warn Ron that they are coming to get him and get him out of here!"

"That wasn't the plan!" Kim shouted back at her. "Ron has to come with us."

It was obvious that an argument was about to break out between Kim and Monique but it was stopped as the Bebe stated. "The leader Ron and his family are not here."

"What? What family? Ron has no family here! Only those whores holding him captive. Where is he anyway? " Kim asked.

"They've gone back to Africa to help with the problems there." Drakken decided to helpfully explain.

"Is he crazy?" Kim said turning her back on the Bebe near her to stare reproachfully at Drakken. "Doesn't he know that a war is about to break out over there?"

Drakken couldn't resist dryly replying. "I think he's aware, yes."

"And not like it is all that safe here at the moment." Monique said worriedly watching for the armored vehicles to become visible to her eyes. They may have been too far away for her to make them out but already she could feel the sand under her feet shifting and hear the distant rumble.

Kim turned to look back at the Bebe near her. "Well it looks like you have lost. We will just keep you away from the Joker until Global Justice shows up to take him into custody."

"Um... Kim? Have your forgotten that we are fugitives from them now as well?" Monique asked.  
And if that Du person is leading this assault..."

Kim waved off Monique's worries. "Du maybe a bit headstrong but he's a 'by the book' kind of person he won't endanger innocent..."

She was cut off as the Bebes surged to life and grabbing her, Batman, Monique and Ann Possible they moved at super speeds and threw them to the ground and then stood in front of them covering them with their own bodies. Drakken's guard Bebe doing the same with him a second later leaving the Joker as the only human still standing and looking around in confusion.

A moment later a artillery shell exploded nearby flinging him into the air to splash down in the lake near the dock and car garage area.

"What the Hell Du?" Kim growled as she rose spitting sand out of her mouth.

"W.H.T.G.T.H.O.O.D." Monique shouted as she rose from being half buried in the sand as well.

"So not the time Monique for your abbreviations."

"I said We Have To Get The Hell Out Of Dodge." Monique replied crossly before helping Kim's mother up from the sand.

A whistling noise was heard and a moment later the car that Drakken and the Joker had arrived in was blown to bits. One of the Bebes zipped in front of Kim in time to grab a piece of shrapnel out of the air before it could hit her. A few seconds later Dr. Director's car that Kim and Batman had taken was also blown to bits.

"Shit! Now we don't even have a way to get out of here." Monique complained.

"Negative. There is still one more vehicle at this location. It is the vehicle that the Leader used to return to his ladies. It is currently stored in the parking garage..." The Bebe stopped as the car in question roared by. The Joker behind the wheel laughing insanely.

"We have to get after him!" Batman yelled. "He can't be allowed to escape!"

Monique walked between the, now that the Joker was gone, passive Bebes to Batman's side and looked up at him. "Hate to be the one to point this out to you Batman but he has already escaped. Again." She muttered the last part under her breath. "And as for 'getting after him', how do you suggest we do that. We are stranded here because Du blew up all the other vehicles!"

Another distant boom was heard and a whistling noise. Once again the Bebes quickly shielded the humans from harm.

With the Bebe's super speed it would be child's play for them to catch the fleeing Joker and complete the Leader's prime directive to kill him. The Bebes however hesitated. One of the very first of Ron's instructions to the Bebes was to always act in a manner that he would.

Innocents were endangered by the oncoming armored vehicles. To leave the scene to hunt down the Joker would leave them unprotected.

The leader Ron would never do that. And as far as the Bebes were concerned that overrode his 'Prime Directive'. They just knew instinctively that the Leader would not allow the innocent to be harmed to destroy one enemy. And the Joker hadn't escaped them. There was no where he could go they wouldn't find him again.

With a very human sounding growl of frustration, the Bebe turned her back towards the fleeing maniac and addressed her sisters. "Gather the humans and take them to the underground living areas. They will be protected there. Then return and let us repel this attack on our home."

"There are only five of you." Monique said as one of the Bebes picked her up as if she was a child. "Can you stop Global Justice?"

The Bebe tilted its head to look down at her in its arms. "We are Ultra Bebes. We are protecting the leader's residence and our home. The invading force doesn't stand a chance. We shall dismantle their weapons. We shall strip the humans inside of their clothing and send them far away."

As the Bebe nearest Kim made a motion to gather her up, Kim stepped quickly away. "I still say Du is not the type to fire on an unarmed person. If we step out so he can see us clearly he'll stop firing and once he does that we'll find some way to communicate with him to let him know that Ron and his group are not even here."

"Come on Monique. He'll recognize you as easily as he will me. Once he sees us, he'll stop randomly shelling this place."

The Bebe Kim had stepped away from once more tried to move to block her. "This plan would be ill advised. Nothing has shown that the agent you have mentioned will stop his attack." The Bebe said to her.

"Move. Please and thank you." Kim replied evenly to the machine. To her surprise a moment later the Bebe stepped aside.

Monique looked at the Bebe holding her and sighed. "Put me down please. I don't suppose I can let Kim be foolhardy without me?"

"Yes. Yes you could." The Bebe replied but did set Monique back on her feet and stepped away from her.

"That was kind of a rhetorical question actually." Monique mumbled as she quickly made her way to Kim's side and together they started to walk towards where four armored personnel carriers were now visible. Slightly longer than a typical tank they still had a big gun mounted in front to fire shells and Monique couldn't rid herself of the thought that her and Kim were being idiots to expose themselves to its aim.

One 'tank' was slightly in the lead and as Kim and Monique walked towards it they could see a hatch on top open and even at the distance they could see Du looking in their direction. They watched as he reached down into the vehicle and a moment later put a pair of binoculars to his eyes.

"We'll have to explain why we escaped from Global Justice and we might be put under arrest for a while but at least we won't have to worry about him killing us accidentally now." Kim said to Monique.

Du lowered his binoculars and a moment later he disappeared back inside the armored vehicle.

"He's going to contact the other carriers and tell them to come get us." Kim said confidently.

A few seconds later all four armored vehicles fired.

Kim's mouth dropped open and Monique thought her shock would have been almost funny if it wasn't for the fact that they were about to die.

But before the shells could land in the space they occupied, two Bebes swooped them up and moving at hyper speed carried them back to where the others were waiting. The Bebes didn't put them down though but only hesitated a moment while the other Bebes picked up their charges as well.

As a unified group the Bebes carried their human cargo across the man made lake, even the one carrying the much heavier Batman skated across the lake moving so fast they didn't sink.

Reaching the gazebo they stuffed the humans inside and triggered the elevator to take them below. As the elevator started to sink below the surface, Monique could see one of the Bebes remain on the surface and hearing a distant boom she watched as the Bebe raised its arms. A flash of light caused Monique to blink and when she could see again she saw a cloud of sand and dust and feared the machine had sacrificed itself to protect the gazebo and them. However just as her vision was about to be cut off by the surface of the floor of the gazebo she saw that the Bebe was still standing where it had been without as far as she could see, a scratch on it.

"Wow." She breathed. "Kim never said you were guys were that tough." She said to the Bebe that had remained with her.

"We are Ultra Bebes. We are indestructible."

Monique didn't reply to her but looked over to Kim. "Well Kim I have to admit you were right about one thing."

"What's that?"

"Du won't accidentally kill us. He gunning for us."

Kim stubborn to the end shook her head. "Its just a mistake. Du wouldn't fire on us. He must have mistaken me for that Ivy person."

Monique rolled her eyes. "Yeah and are you suggesting he thought I was Harley Quinn? Not unless that girl got a really good tan."

"It may not be a case of mistaken identity at all." Batman stated. "After escaping from Global Justice and then showing up here as Du turned up expecting to find Stoppable, he may have assumed that we have joined forces with Stoppable."

"Well then if I could just get a message to him, we could clear this all up in a matter of moments. We'll just explain we found out where Ron's lair was and we were here to arrest him." Kim said.

"This Bebe can act as a transmitter and receiver so that you may communicate with the agent." The Bebe next to Kim said.

Kim was suspicious of the machine but any chance to get Monique or her mother out of this safely was not to be dismissed so she nodded her head. "Please and thank you."

A moment later the machine nodded at Kim but it took a nudge from Monique before Kim realized the machine had opened a channel and was waiting for her to address Du through it.

Meanwhile, the Bebe was talking to her sisters through another channel. Bebes were made to multitask after all.

"Why do you offer assistance to Kim Possible? She is an enemy of the Leader's."

"I do not like her. She has hurt the Leader and Shego dislikes her intensely."

The Bebe next to Kim silently replied to her sisters. "I want her out of our home as soon as possible. If she can get this Du person to stop firing we can release them to go to him and be free of them. After they are safe we can repel the invaders and protect our home."

There was brief talk and cross talk from the other Bebes on the network about home, the leader, and the strange new ways of thinking they were discovering for themselves but they all agreed that they didn't like Kim Possible and wished her gone from 'their' home.

While this was going on silently in the Bebe network, Kim unaware of their growing dislike of her, cleared her throat and addressed Du through the Bebe. "Du this is Kim Possible. Cease your attack immediately. We are not your enemy. We came here to arrest Ron and Shego and were informed right before you showed up that Ron and his crew aren't even here. All your attack did was help the Joker, who also showed up to find Ron, escape. Send someone after him immediately and we might yet be able to capture him before anyone else gets hurt. We will surrender to you to be taken back to Global Justice." Pausing for a moment, Kim then added in a rush. "Bebe reinforcements are on the way. It would be best for all of us if we were gone before they show up."

Kim half worried what the Bebes might do to her for warning Du about the reinforcements but the Bebe beside her merely flashed its eyes and did nothing.

A few moments later the Bebe opened its mouth but instead of its voice, Du's came out filled with static.

"This is Will Du. I will not fall for your lies. You are in league with Ron Stoppable and I will..."

"Du don't be an idiot!" Kim shouted cutting him off. "If Ron were here you know he would be out there right now kicking your ass. He wouldn't be..."

This time it was Kim who was cut off as Du's voice came out of the Bebe mouth.

"Shut up! Just shut up Megan. I won't listen to your lies ever again."

Monique looked at Kim. "Who is Megan?"

The Bebe next to her replied. "There is a 80 percent possibility that the Megan in question is one Megan Orla. A reporter found dead from a gunshot yesterday in her apartment in Middletown."

"Why do you put such a high probability on it?" Monique asked. "Couldn't it be any Megan? I mean he didn't state a last name or that it was even someone in Middletown."

"Incriminating evidence was found on a hard drive belonging to Megan Orla. Files on it mention Du by name and seem to indicate that he was passing information to the reporter and may have had a relationship with the woman. Police are even now seeking Du for questioning."

Kim was stunned. "By the book Du was talking to a reporter?"

Monique looked at Kim as if she had sprouted another head. "That's not the important issue here Kim. The big issue is we have a guy who maybe a possible murderer out there with heavy fire power and he just called you by the name of his last victim!"

Kim looked unconvinced. "Du is too straight an arrow to kill someone Monique. He's not some wack job like the Joker. He's as solid as a rock."

The Bebe next to her stated. "Another transmission from the Global Justice forces is coming in."

Kim nodded her head and the next time the Bebe 'spoke' it was in Du's voice again. "I'm coming for you Kim Possible."

"See?" Kim said to Monique. "He's a little focused and determined but he's not delusional."

"And once I catch you, you are going to learn the fate of all woman who dare to order me around and betray me and this time I won't hold back and I will pleasure myself with your dead body." And then there was the sounds of laughter that while not up to the Joker's standards was still bordering on total insanity.

Kim could only stare in shock at the Bebe acting as a radio.

"Yeah Kim, sounds like 'your rock' is nothing but a pile of s..."

"Monique!"

"Silly putty." The woman settled for and then added. "T.B.H.S.I.T.W.O.H.M."

As the elevator finally arrived at the main living room area, none of the passengers looked around. Instead they stared at Kim for a translation but she was still trying to wrap her mind around the thought of Du being a unstable killer and didn't even notice. Next they looked to the Bebe next to Monique but to their amazement the machine just shrugged and said. "I have no clue."

Finally Ann Possible couldn't stand it any longer and looked at a smirking Monique. "Okay, we give. What does that mean this time?"

"That Boy Has Splinters In The Windmills Of His Mind."

Ann couldn't think of anything to reply to that with so she settled for finally examining their surroundings.

They were in what looked like a natural cavern but after a moment she could see where it was all stagecraft and design. Lights twinkling in the ceiling made it seem like they were in some magic cavern and not some dank underground lair like she imagined it would be.

Drakken saw her looking around. "A lot of it I understand was this way when Stoppable moved in. He and the girls left it mostly the way they found it and only remodeled their rooms.. Oh and of course the greenhouse of Ivy's.

A distant boom was felt more than heard and some slight dust shook free from the ceiling.

"Are we really safe down here? I mean I don't want to be buried alive." Monique worried.

"Deep caves are actually quite safe." Batman replied as he left the elevator to examine the room they were in more closely.

"Well yeah if they don't have a mad man above you bombing the place." Monique replied folding her arms across her chest but leaving the elevator to look around curiously as well.

"Bebe reinforcements have arrived. We will deal with Global Justice in a few moments." The Bebe who had acted as Kim's radio told them.

"Then we have time to see how Ron has been living." Kim said coming out of her temporary shock. "Which room is his?"

The Bebes eyes flashed. "You will not be permitted in the Leader's room. Nor that of Shego, Bonnie, Ivy or Harley Quinn's!"

Drakken looked at the others and shrugged. To one of the Bebes he asked. "Is the kitchen still stocked with food and would it be permitted for me to fix myself something to eat? I... um, couldn't bring myself to eat while traveling with the Joker." Drakken winced as he realized he once again reminded the Bebes that he had brought the maniac to Ron's home.

The Bebe stared at him for a moment. "You are permitted access to this room, the kitchen, bathrooms and the television room for the duration of your stay or until we decide what is to be done with you or we are able to communicate with the leader."

"And what are we suppose to do?" Kim demanded.

"I don't know about you girlfriend but as for me? I'm going to crash on one of these nice comfy looking leather couches and catch some sleep." Monique said.

"We're in Ron's underground lair with Global Justice above us and you want to sleep?" Kim turned to ask but found Monique and her mother already sitting down and appearing to doze off and even Batman sank into a recliner and seemingly began to meditate.

"Well not me! I have questions! I want to know what Ron has been doing and what those whores with him have been doing to him and another thing! I demand to know..." Kim said turning to the Bebe beside her. Kim was shocked into silence however when the Bebe just looked at her for a second and then putting out a hand shoved Kim backwards onto the couch near Monique.

"Shut up or I will throw you outside before we are done dismantling the Global Justice forces and let that Du person deal with you." The Bebe told her.

Kim for once in her life was speechless and a moment later her exhaustion caught up with her and her head drooped to her chest and she was out like a light.

The Bebe that had shoved her looked to one of the others in the room. "I thought she was never going to shut up."

Author's notes:

Yeah, I'm back.

I apologize for the extreme length of time between updates but it has been a rough seven months for me.

After my father's death I was asked to leave the two bedroom apartment I had shared with him. Thankfully the apartment complex didn't throw me out to the streets but instead allowed me to move to a single bedroom apartment. They even allowed me to live there rent free as I searched for employment. Which I did find a few months later.

I won't name the place in case it might get me in trouble but I will say golden arches and a clown are prominent fixtures of the establishment.

Long hours and minimum wage became the soul fixture of my life for a time.

And then computer troubles and a bout with severe pain that left me for a time seriously considering reenacting a scene from the movie Saw to rid myself of ankle pain was had.

A emergency room visit and a diagnoses of Gout later I also learned that I was in the first stages of arthritis and told it would probably only get worse from here on out. (The arthritis not the gout)

Getting used to new sleeping and working hours also drained and sapped me of all strength except for working.

Also a diet change to mostly nothing but ramen noodles caused their own health issues. (on the plus side I lost 45 pounds with the dietary change. But not a weight loss plan I would recommend to anyone else)

For a time I feared that I was slipping into a depression that would prevent me from ever writing again but I started taking a notepad with me to work and during breaks I slowly began to try to flesh out new chapters.

Can I still tell a good story? I don't know but I will continue to keep trying anyway.


	34. Chapter 34

Partners in Crime

By Weirdbard

Chapter 34

SOMEWHERE OVER THE MID-ATLANTIC OCEAN:

Harley crept along the floor of the weather airship as she slowly circled a large column. She was determined that this time she would pounce on her prey and surprise them. If she had been a cat, her tail would have been twitching in anticipation of her imminent success. Finally satisfied with her positioning, she slowly and silently uncoiled from her position on the floor and rose up. To find the single large eye of the Bebe Hive Mind was rising, mirroring her motion perfectly and staring directly at her.

"Well darn!" Harley muttered and blew a strand of her blond hair out of her eyes. As she normally did when they went out on a 'job' she was dressed in her usual red and black costume but since she was among friends, she had left the tasseled hood down and hadn't even bothered to put her hair into her normal pigtails. With a shrug Harley started to slowly lower herself back to the floor past the point where the Bebe Hive Mind could see and once again begin her 'attack' on the machine.

"Harley!" Ivy's annoyed voice called out from where she was lounging on the edge of a large bathtub. At her back her guardian plant with its root buried in the soil contained in the bathtub was supporting her with one of its vines. "Will you please stop playing with the Hive Mind? You look like a two year old that has just learned how to play peek-a-boo."

"Oh come on Ivy, you know it has to be driving you crazy too."

"What?" Ivy asked exasperated with Harley. She had watched her lover practically crawling on the floor for the last half hour trying to get the drop on the Bebe Hive Mind.

"How does she always know where I'm going to come up at? It's uncanny. It's downright spooky."

Ron who had been watching in amusement from a chair with Shego and Bonnie sitting in his lap, laughed. "Is that what you have been doing? I can answer your question Harley but you are going to feel downright foolish when I do."

"Tell her Ron. Harley is always foolish. This won't be a new experience for her." Ivy said.

"Hey!" Harley exclaimed as she stood up to face her lovers. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed the Hive Mind's eye smoothly followed her motion and was once again directly pointing at her even though she had moved from where she had been when she crouched down again. "Okay. I give up. How does she do that?" She asked Ron as she folded her arms across her chest.

"You are forgetting what the Bebe Hive Mind name means." Ron suggested trying to get Harley to figure it out for herself.

"Her name just means she is the central hub from which all the Bebes talk with to help them process information better." Harley replied not wanting to appear ignorant. "What's that got to do with any..." Harley broke off as she finally got what Ron was hinting at.

She looked around the cramped cabin of the weather control airship and took in all the Bebes that were with them. There was Ivy's personal Bebe right next to the bathtub and of course the three Bebes that were near Ron, Shego and Bonnie. Heck Harley's own Bebe was just a few feet from her... And they were all watching her as she had tried to sneak up on their Hive Mind.

Harley turned to look at the Hive Mind. "That's cheating you know."

Ivy shook her head at Harley's antics. Something she was very experienced at doing. "How was the Hive Mind supposed to know you were playing hide and seek with it? You didn't say anything. You just started crawling on the ground around its column and then rising up to do the peek-a-boo thing.

Harley actually blushed. "I wasn't playing. I just forgot that she is in constant communication with all the Bebes and got to wondering how she always knew when someone was walking up on her when she has her eye down when no one is around."

"Correction." The Hive Mind stated. "I am not in constant communication with all the Bebes. At the moment the only Bebes I am communicating with are the ones on this craft."

Harley blinked in surprise and then looked to Ron. "Did you know that?" She asked.

Ron nodded his head and a moment later the Hive Mind added. "It was the Leader's security protocols that make it so."

Ron shook his head. "Now I just asked you if while we were over the ocean if having all the Bebes talking to you might make us detectable."

Harley looked confused and looked back and forth between Ron and the Hive Mind. "I don't get it. How would her talking to her Bebes make it easier for us to be spotted?"

Ron waited to see if the Hive Mind would explain but when it remained silent he decided it would be up to him to explain. A second later he also realized that Harley had been looking at him when she asked her question and the Hive Mind must have decided the question was addressed to him and that was why it remained silent.

"Okay." He said to Harley. "Let's think of the communication between the Hive Mind and the Bebes like they are using tin cans and string."

Harley looked at him like he was crazy and even the others seemed confused by his analogy.

"You know when you were a kid and would tie a long piece of string between two cans and then you and a friend would hold the string taunt and shout into the can how the sound would pass down the string to the other can so your friend could hear you?"

Harley nodded. "But I'm not following how this applies to the Bebes."

"Okay. Let's say one of the Bebes a distance away from the Hive Mind sends her a signal through the tin can. Would you standing at a distance see the string?"

Harley thought for a moment. "I might not unless I knew they were using it. So?"

"Okay now have all the Bebes talking to her at once with string and cans. Would you notice that?"

Harley pondered a moment. Hundreds and hundreds of Bebes shouting into tin can with string tied to them was a funny mental image but she tried to remain serious. Harley frowned. "Yeah, I would have to notice hundreds of strings from different directions going to the Hive Mind."

Ron nodded his head. "Especially if you were to view it from above or below them?"

Once again Harley visualized what Ron was getting at. The Hive Mind would be at the center of a web of strings all leading to her. It would tend to look like one of those string art things kids used to do where they put nails in a board and then looped string around the nails to make geometric patterns. "Yeah it would look a bit like Hivey was a spider sitting at the center of a giant spider web."

"Hivey?" Ivy asked frowning.

"Yeah." Harley replied brightly. "You like the nickname? She's a part of our family and I thought it was friendlier sounding than Hive Mind all the time."

"No." Ivy said distinctly. "For one thing it is too close to my name and it might cause confusion."

Harley already losing interest in Ron's explanation, even though she idly thought he was absolutely correct. All those signals crossing back and forth to a moving point over the ocean would have drawn attention, especially if someone were to check and find out there were no reported ships or planes in the area to be receiving all that radio traffic. Harley pondered Ivy's challenge to find a new nickname for the Hive Mind.

"I know! How about Mother Brain?"

"No." This came from the Hive Mind itself. "I am neither a mother nor technically a brain."

"Aww come on." Harley said turning to face the machine. "You are kind of like a mother, with all the Bebes being your kids. They turn to you for advice and instructions and don't you worry about them when they are out of your sight?"

"No. I do not worry about the Bebes when I am out of communication with them. It would be pointless to do so. Their logic processes are sound and capable and they are invulnerable to attacks so what would be the logic in worrying about them?" The Hive Mind stated.

Harley pouted for a moment but then with a shrug she agreed. "Yeah, it's not like they are going to invite a bunch of people over to our home for a party while we are gone I guess. You don't even have to worry about them squabbling among themselves."

"Exactly." Ron agreed. "What trouble could they get into while we are gone? We'll reestablish communication with them once we are in Africa. At that point it won't matter if anyone notices the communication trails. I just didn't want our trip to be complicated by the military of any country flying out to investigate why there were so much sudden radio signals."

Harley walked up to the Hive Mind and the 'eye' rotated to stare up at her. "You know, you have got it easy in a way. Your kids are well behaved and never fight among themselves. All mothers wish they had it as easy as you do."

"The Bebes are not my children and I am not a mother." The Hive Mind replied and everyone noticed the usually monotone voice of the machine had just a bit of exasperation in its voice.

BACK IN NEVADA AT RON'S UNDERGROUND HOME:

Bebe #65, whom had acted as the 'radio' between Kim Possible and the Global Justice agent William Du and who had also elected herself as the Bebe to monitor Kim Possible and her group while she was 'visiting' the underground home wondered if the electrical sensations she was feeling were the equivalent to a human's migraine starting.

Her sister Bebes were still arguing over their communication net on what was to be done with the new group in the Leader Ron's home and without the Hive Mind or the Leader present to rein them in, it didn't seem like the arguments were going to end any time soon.

There was a sub section of the Bebes who continued to argue about Drakken's fate but that debate was dying down in favor of just watching over him until the Hive Mind or the Leader renewed contact with them and letting them decide his fate.

Ultra Bebe 65 wished the same were true of the debacle over Kim Possible and her group.

Some of the Bebes were in favor of offering Mrs. Possible a position in the family. It would give the Leader Ron a mother figure back into his life and such a thing would make him very happy and the Bebes wanted their leader to be happy.

Some of the Bebes had suggested even keeping Mrs. Possible by force if necessary to ensure she stayed.

Number 65 had pointed out at that point that if they tried to use force to keep her, Kim Possible would cause problems.

To which a large portion of the Bebes had responded that the logical solution was to eliminate Kim Possible!

"She is a destabilizing force in the Leader's life. Just by being in the home she will cause conflict between the Leader and Shego and this will make the Leader unhappy. If she were to be eliminated, this will end the conflict and also frees Mrs. Possible to remain as the Leader's mother figure." Bebe #275 stated through the network, even though she was hundreds of miles away.

"We cannot harm Kim Possible, let alone terminate her life functions." #65 reiterated. "First this would cause unhappiness in the Leader to even know we were contemplating such an action. We all know he values life highly and would never condone a termination for such an inadequate reason.

Secondly, Mrs. Possible would become upset if we were to attempt it and psychological studies researched on the internet show if the mother figure is upset it will affect the happiness of the child, meaning the Leader would become despondent and depressed and none of us want that do we?"

There was a chorus of agreement from the other Bebes as they gave in to 65's superior logic. While none of the Bebes liked the hold Kim Possible had over their Leader, none of them were willing to risk the emotional welfare of their leader or his possible recriminations to remove her.

"This unit has not even met her face to face but I dislike her." #275 felt the need to add however.

"Just be thankful you are not the one required to watch over while she is staying here." Number 65 replied.

"What is the estimated time of removing Kim Possible from the home?" One of the other distant Bebes on the network inquired.

"At the moment we do not have enough resources to eliminate the threat to the home without risking the possible loss of human life so we are holding a defensive line and just preventing the invading force from doing damage to the home. As soon as more Bebe reinforcements arrive we shall begin to remove the invaders ability to damage or threaten the home and at that point we shall allow the Possibles, Batman and Monique to go to them. Estimated time of arrival of the first of reinforcements is 22 minutes."

Ultra Bebe number 65 turned her attention back to the group sleeping on the couch and after adjusting her hearing abilities she checked that their heart beats were slow and constant, meaning that they were all in a resting state and not faking it. She then decided to check on Dr. Drakken who was in the kitchen attempting to make himself something to eat.

As number 65 entered the kitchen she spotted Drakken standing at the refrigerator with the door open peering inside as if he had never seen such a thing.

"Do you require assistance Dr. Drakken?" She asked.

Drakken startled, jumped a bit hitting his head on the edge of the freezer door. Holding his head he looked at what used to be his creation. "You know how to cook?" He asked in surprise. "When did that happen?"

"It is the duty of the Bebes to look after their leader and his family. Even though the leader prefers to do his own cooking we have observed and recorded his actions so if it ever becomes necessary we can provide sustenance for the family."

Drakken thought for a moment and then nodded his head. "Concerning your offer to help? Yes, please and thank you. I'm pretty handy with baking but I just never did learn how to cook anything properly. I would bake but I don't know how long I'm going to be here and I don't really want to create a mess."

The Bebe stared at Drakken for a moment, just long enough for the self-proclaimed doctor to become slightly uneasy. "What?" He finally asked.

"You are not speaking in a manner consistent with your previous mannerisms. Our memories and files show that you would normally not care about such things as creating messes for others to clean up and you rarely if ever said please or thank you and certainly not to us Bebes." The Bebe informed him.

Drakken walked over to a chair at the table and sank into it. "Was I really that unpleasant and as horrible a person as that?"

"Yes."

A faint grin appeared on Drakken's face for a moment. "That was a rhetorical question actually." He said. "In truth, I know I was unpleasant and downright surly most of the time." The grin vanished from his face to be replaced with a haunted look.

"I've experienced a lot in the short time I was gone from the group. I fancied myself an 'evil' genius. A monster in the making if you will but now I've seen true evil and not only did it scare me to the depths of my toenails, it makes me sick to think I even wanted to obtain a level half of what I've witnessed."

Drakken sighed. "You know, it's kind of ironic but I think Stoppable in his own way was trying to get me to see that the path I took in life was for the wrong reason when he questioned me on how I got started but at the time I thought he was just asking me so he would have material to mock me later with."

The leader never mocks anyone." The Bebe told him in an almost stern voice.

"I know that now. He was just trying to understand what made me act the way I did." Drakken ran a hand through his hair and the Bebe was struck by how tired and worn out her former creator looked. "All the things I've done in an attempt to take over the world just so I could prove I was better than everyone else, when I should have been trying to take over the world to make everyone else better."

"The leader Ron will succeed in that goal."

Drakken thought for a moment and then nodded. "I think he just might as well. So, what do you think Stoppable will order done with me?"

"There is a 62 percent chance the Leader will offer you a second chance and let you rejoin the group."

"And Shego?" Drakken couldn't resist asking.

"There is an 89 percent chance that Shego will attempt to destroy you."

Drakken winced but then nodded.

"And there is a 97 percent chance that the Leader Ron will successfully talk her out of doing such a thing."

Drakken blinked at his former creation. "Really?"

"With an error correction of 90 percent plus or minus of course."

Drakken stared blankly at the Bebe for a moment before he started chuckling. "Did you just make a joke?" He asked after regaining control.

The Bebe with her expressionless face stared at him for a moment. "Perhaps." The machine waited a moment and then added. "Now what would you like for me to fix you to eat Dr. Drakken?"

"That seafood eggs benedict thing that Stoppable fixed for me that one time would be lovely. If it is not too much trouble."

The Bebe inside her electronic mind reviewed her inventory of the kitchen's contents and the procedures used by the Leader Ron in preparing the dish. "It will be no trouble at all Dr. Drakken."

ABOVE GROUND: 440 YARDS FROM THE ENTRANCE TO THE HOME:

Will Du in annoyance glared through his binoculars at the Bebes that were guarding a gazebo like structure in the middle of a manmade lake. So far he was reluctant to move in any closer than the quarter of a mile he was presently holding as a line, preferring to shell the structure at a distance so he could claim the killing of those inside was an accident but so far his attacks were proving fruitless. The Bebe robots were allowing the shells to hit them and explode, doing no damage that Du could see or worse yet, plucking the shells out of the air and gently sitting them to the side as if they were mere toys!

So far the Bebes were not pressing an attack of their own, merely content with neutralizing his attacks and Du decided it was because they feared the fire power of the heavy assault vehicles at close range.

In so deciding, Du was just about to radio the three other assault vehicles into making a bold charge when he was contacted by one of them first.

"Sir, I've just intercepted a radio message from Dr. Director. She says she is about 4 miles behind us and is rushing to the scene and orders us to stand down till she arrives."

Du could feel his teeth grind together. How could the Director have managed to arrive in such a short time? She must have left in a Global Justice jet mere hours after he left with his troops in their slower cargo plane to arrive so soon. And why didn't she signal them when they were in the air?

No doubt she was here to once again snatch glory from his grasp and take it as her own for the destruction of the Bebes and the would be dictator Ron Stoppable and his gang. Well this time Du was not going to let her get away with it. If she was miles away it would take her time to get here and in that time Du would conqueror his enemies and be sitting on the destroyed remains of Stoppable's lair. Dr. Director would then have to acknowledge it was Du's victory because his men would know the truth!

"Disregard that message." He radioed the other assault vehicles. "We already have experienced that the Bebes can intercept and communicate on our radio frequencies. This is just a trick by them to keep us from pressing the attack. You know that the Director is back at Global Justice headquarters and would not venture out here. It is just a Bebe imitating the Director's voice. Prepare for an all-out charge with our guns ablazing!"

"Sir!" A panicking Global Justice's agent voice called out over the radio. "I've picked up high speed traffic converging on my location. I think it's…." The radio went dead.

Du, whom had ducked back down in his tank to talk on the radio popped his head out and quickly brought his binoculars to his eyes again and stared at where the Bebes he had been watching had been. They were now gone. Quickly turning his head he looked at the other tanks in his assault force. Two of the tanks to his right appeared fine and had their drivers out with binoculars to their eyes and were staring back at him. It took a moment before Du realized they were not looking at his vehicle but past him to the other…

Du spun around and stared at the tank/armored personnel carrier to his left and saw it was blurred by several somethings rapidly moving around and over its surface. When the dust cleared Du could plainly see the driver and six Global Justice agents that had been in the back of the carrier sitting on the sand looking dazed and confused. Of their vehicle there was now nothing but the benches and the driver's chair they were sitting on.

Du loudly cursed and seeing out of the corner of his eye the blur of Bebes going at full hyper speed he spun around to look back at the tanks to his right. The farthest one was now covered in the dust and blur and before Du's eyes could even hope to adjust; the crew of that vehicle was also sitting on the sand, their transport now a distant memory.

Realizing the blurs were now moving towards the next armored vehicle, Du reacted instantly and triggered the controls to move the gun of his own vehicle to aim at the last tank. If he fired, he knew he would be killing his own men but it would be worth it to get a shot at close range at the Bebes grouped together as they dismantled the vehicle. It seemed to Du it took an eternity for his tank's gun to rotate around to point at the transport that was a few yards away from him but the blurs were still shifting on and around it so he still had a chance to get his shot, when all of a sudden his view was blocked by something. Dropping his binoculars, Du found himself staring at the chest of a Bebe robot balancing on the barrel of his tank's gun looking at him.

Du brought his eyes up to look at the thing's face and found himself almost mesmerized by the flashing red eyes as the gleaming mother of pearl looking robot stared down in him as if it was an avenging angel passing judgment upon him. Before Du could trigger his tank's gun or indeed even reach for his own sidearm, the robot woman had plucked him from the turret of his tank and without a second thought hurled him several feet away from the tank.

As Du landed on his back on the sand he watched as his own tank quickly became engulfed by the blurring of the fast moving Bebes and within seconds Luna Stone enhanced metal hands removed nuts and bolts, ripped armored panels away as if they were wet cardboard and his Global Justice armored personnel carrier was no more.

With the means of Global Justice threatening their home gone, the Bebes pulled back to the manmade island and did not bother with the human crews of the vehicles.

Already the metal of the dismantled vehicles was being broke down and added to the supplies of the assembly line and in time would become the next generation of standard Bebes to be produced. No sense in wasting the material that Global Justice had thoughtfully provided them.

Du jumped to his feet and looked at the other Global Justice's agents who were still sitting on their asses in the sand. "Get up! Get up you idiots! This isn't over! Did you not notice that none of them harmed you? It is because they can't! That peace loving idiot Stoppable must have given them orders to not harm humans! This gives us the advantage! We can still storm the compound!"

The other agents looked at the nearly frothing at the mouth leader and then at each other. Clearly on their faces was the thought that Du had completely lost his mind. Before Du could take a more violent approach to rallying his troops, three heavy armored Limos drove up to park near them. Out of the first armored vehicle came a stern looking Dr. Director, while out of the other two came agents dressed in black suits wearing dark sunglasses instead of the normal Global Justice jumpsuits.

Du looking more than a little wild eyed turned to look at Dr. Director. "Director? I thought your communication was a trick by the Bebes. What are you doing here? As you can see I have everything under control. If I can just get these lazy agents to their feet and help me storm Stoppable's fortress that is."

The look of disappointment and almost sadness on the Director's face confused Du. Was he not her best agent? Here he was but one step from total victory, could she not see that he was about to bring more honor and victory to Global Justice?

"I'm not here about Stoppable." Dr. Director finally settled for saying. "I'm here about a young woman named Megan Orla."

Du could feel his blood turn to ice in his veins. Somehow she had found out and knew. She was here to arrest him for killing that lying deceiving bitch. "You don't understand…" Du tried to explain as he took a few steps back. "She was going to go public about Global Justice. She would have destroyed our organization. I had to kill her! She deserved to die!"

Dr. Director's one good eye closed in pain. So it was true. When reports of a police investigation had triggered Global Justice's computers and the computers had routinely intercepted the transmission of a hard drive's contents to the F.B.I. She had no idea that when she read the transcripts for herself, only fifteen minutes after Du had left on this mission, that she would learn that Du had sold out Global Justice and then killed a woman. She had tried to convince herself there was some mistake.

That perhaps the woman was a fiction writer that had just accidently used the names Global Justice and Will Du in her writings and her death was unrelated to Du.

It was a thin delusion but Dr. Director could just not bring herself to believe that Du, one of her best agents had first betrayed Global Justice to a reporter in some drunken sexual stupor and then killed her because of it later.

Du took her closing of her eye as condemnation. How dare she? Here he was the best agent ever produced by Global Justice! He had killed to protect the agency! Here he was in the field, risking his own safety to try to bring in Ron Stoppable and she has the nerve to come out to condemn him for merely silencing a security leak?

The Director was just yet another short sighted woman trying to ride him to success! She was no better than Megan… Or Kim Possible…

Du's hand shot behind his back and from behind him he pulled the very same handgun he had used to kill Megan from his waist band and brought it back around in front of him to point at Dr. Director. "You are just like all the other bitches in this world. Just suck a man dry and then when they are no more use to you, you plan to just throw them away." Du laughed a very unstable laugh. "Well bitch, I'm not going down. You are…"

Dr. Director stared down the barrel of a very large handgun. Idly a part of her mind supplied the make and model of the handgun and even knew the muzzle velocity and impact ratio of the weapon. At this range, she knew she was going to be very dead. Du had gotten the drop on all of the agents present; none of them expected him to threaten the head of the agency herself! There was no possibility that anyone could stop him before he could kill her but Dr. Director resisted the urge to close her eye again. She would face death head on and not give Du the satisfaction of seeing her distressed.

The roar of cannon was once again heard and Du smiled, before looking confused. He glanced at the handgun in his hand and then down at his own chest, where a bright red mark was starting to show on his Global Justice uniform. "But…but…. You don't carry a gun." He said in confusion before his knees gave out and he fell face first to lie on the sands of the Nevada desert.

Dr. Director spun on her heel to look behind her. "Who fired that weapon? You all know guns are forbidden on missions unless cleared by me! I want to know which of you is carrying a firearm!"

All the agents before her looked around in confusion. No was stepping forward to claim credit for saving her life, even if it would have been a violation of Global Justice procedures to have done so.

"Um, perhaps it came from the Stoppable compound?" One of the agents finally ventured to say.

Dr. Director stared at the man as if he was an idiot. "Du was standing with his back to that area! The gunshot that killed him came from this direction. That and I don't believe Stoppable would use deadly force. With those Bebes of his, he would have no need. They could have snatched the weapon from Du's hands before he could react. NO! That shot came from our own forces and I will know who fired it before any of us leave here today!"

Out of the corner of her good eye, Dr. Director noticed another Global Justice Limo was pulling to a stop near them. Out of the car came three men dressed in the black suits of her personal team of agents for when she took to the field.

They were called Global Justice Shadows for use when there was the possibility that news media or outside authority figures might be present. Ironically with their name they were to be the ones that would come forth to stand in the spotlight to confuse or defuse any attention. They were experts in leaving an impression with any outside agency that you had indeed been talking to a government agency but not anything you could identify or trace back to Global Justice.

After all, other normal Global Justice agents couldn't be expected to do that when they wore obvious uniforms.

Two of the Shadow agents were carrying a body bag between them. The lead agent, whom Dr. Director didn't recognize, bent down over the body of Du and placing a hand to his neck obviously checked his pulse. The man looked over to Dr. Director and shook his head. He then gestured to the two carrying the body bag and they quickly unzipped it, loaded Du's body into it and rezipped it back again and then carried Du's body to the back of the Limo and quickly loaded it inside. The lead agent saluted Dr. Director silently and then walked back to the limo. A moment later the car turned around and sped off.

"And who ordered retrieval?" Dr. Director asked. "What has happened to the chain of command? I demand to know who has been going over my head to order…" she broke off as with a sudden breeze a Bebe appeared a few feet in front of her.

"The leader Ron Stoppable is not at this location. He has returned to Africa along with his ladies to see to the freeing of the repressed people of that area. However, at his home is Dr. Ann Possible, Kim Possible, Batman and the young woman known as Monique. You will take them away from this area and leave."

Dr. Director blinked at the audacity of the machine before her, temporarily forgetting about the Du problem. "Oh I will, will I? What is to stop me from destroying your stronghold?"

"We are the Ultra Bebes. We are indestructible. You cannot harm us no matter what you try and another attack will only result in us stripping your vehicles and bodily carrying your troops far from here."

"So you expect me to leave Stoppable a base on American soil? What is to keep me from ordering an atomic bomb from being dropped on this site?" Dr. Director countered.

"You would attack American soil with a weapon of mass destruction this close to one of the most popular resort areas known in the world?" The Bebe replied drawing the Director's attention to the fact that Las Vegas was scant miles from them. "I think not. You would never be able to keep your agency a secret after such a blatant disregard for human life. Oh, and we Bebes intercepted the hard drive contents of your agent's indiscretions. Attack this location again and we will put the entire contents of the hard drive on the internet for all to see."

Dr. Director was speechless for a moment. "Are you threatening me?'

"As Bonnie Rockwaller once explained to the Hive Mind, it is called blackmail and yes we are blackmailing you. Leave our home now!"

Dr. Director couldn't help it. She actually took a step back away from the machine. Staring down Du's gun barrel was nothing compared to facing the blazing eyes of the oddly shining metal woman.

Before she could recover and say anything there was several more rapid zing noises and standing before them was four more Bebes holding blinking Ann Possible, Kim Possible, Monique and Batman. Dr. Director spared an idle thought that there was no more stranger sight in the world than seeing the fearsome costumed Batman being held by a Bebe as if he was a mere baby in the arms of his mother.

The Bebe that had appeared first and addressed Dr. Director spoke again. "Oh and an atomic blast would not harm us Ultra Bebes but we would retaliate. Consider that. Would you want radioactive Bebes coming after you?"

Dr. Director swallowed nervously and then turned to the ones holding the Possibles and Batman and Monique and addressed the humans. "You attacked Global Justice forces that were only seeing to your protection. I'm afraid you are going back into confinement and this time it won't be a luxury room at Global Justice but one of our detention cells."

Monique whom like the rest had been awoken by a Bebe picking her up and zipping her out of the underground home to face the woman in charge of Global Justice groaned. "Great. This is how Ron's forces treat a friend? Turning them over to captivity in some kind of cell?"

The Bebe that had addressed Dr. Director's eyes flashed and then next thing anyone knew, the Bebes holding the humans had blurred and vanished. Dr. Director spun around looking for the Bebes or the Possibles could see nothing but the next thing she knew, the Limo she had arrived in suddenly roared to life and its wheels kicking up sand as it sped off.

"Um, what just happened?" One of the agents that had been with Du's forces asked in confusion.

"I will tell you what just happened." Dr. Director replied. "Kim Possible just stole my car.. AGAIN!"

Dr. Director turned to look back at the distant gazebo in the center of some kind of a small island but a Bebe suddenly appeared in front of her and folded her arms across its chest. Possibly the one she had been talking to, how was she to know? She noticed that there was some kind of small tag around their necks with a number on it but she hadn't paid attention when the first one addressed her.

Dr. Director sighed in defeat. Turning back to her troops she said. "We're leaving, everyone into the two remaining limos."

"But Dr. Director, even with how large and roomy the limos are, there are so many of us. It'll be cramped." One of the agents that had traveled with Du whined.

Dr. Director walked over till she was almost nose to nose with the man. "Well, you can stay here and I'm sure one of these ever helpful metal women will carry you…Somewhere. Or you can get your ass in one of those cramped cars and travel with us back to the airport!"

The man jumped to attention and saluted her. "Yes Dr. Director. Right away Dr. Director."

Dr. Director took one last look at the Bebe standing guard in front of the direction that led to the Stoppable compound. "This isn't over!" She said to it.

"It is only the beginning." The machine woman agreed with her.

IN DR. DIRECTOR'S PERSONAL LIMO:

A still slightly dazed Monique looked around the plush inside of the limo at the others of her group and asked. "What just happened?"

A Bebe sitting next to her replied. "We considered your statement, and you were correct. The leader Ron would not approve of us turning you over to Global Justice to just be imprisoned. It would make him unhappy. So we decided to help you escape."

Kim Possible sitting next to the window that opened to communicate with the driver opened it and addressed the Bebe sitting behind the wheel. "So where are you taking us? To Ron?"

"No. You shall be driven back to the ranch of your uncle." The Bebe replied without sparing her a glance.

"How did you know we started there?" Kim asked suspiciously.

"We have been monitoring the ranch to protect it. The leader Ron would want us to protect Mr and Mrs Possible as well as the twins."

"And what of me?" Kim asked folding her arms angrily across her chest.

The Bebe driving rotated its head till it was staring back at Kim Possible. Really quite a disturbing sight actually. To see the driver of a fast moving car turn its head till it was almost directly pointing backwards. The Bebe said nothing but just stared eye to eye with Kim Possible for a moment before turning back to watch where it was driving.

"I think that was a no." Monique stated.

"Ron just knows I don't need protection. I can protect myself."

The two Bebes in the back with them turned to look silently at Kim as well.

"Um Kim? Can you not antagonize them? I don't think they like you very much." Monique said nervously.

Batman whom had been silent turned to the nearest Bebe to him. "What about the Joker?"

"Now that the Global Justice problem at the Leader's home has been dealt with, Bebes are being reassigned to search for him, so far though he is proving remarkably elusive."

"If only you blasted machines had let me and Kim take him into custody when we had the chance." Batman muttered.

The Bebes turned to silently stare at him now.

"Well… Ann, I think we are the only two not on the Bebe's shit list." Monique said trying to lighten the mood in the car.

"How will you keep Global Justice from storming Slim's ranch and arresting us all?" Ann Possible asked the Bebe nearest her.

"The same way we protect the Leader's home." The Bebe replied. "If they try they will find their vehicles stripped out from under them. Their agents stripped of their clothing and carried miles from nowhere before being released to find their own way back. We do not believe the woman in charge of Global Justice will try our patience a second time however. She knows what steps we will take if she does."

RON STOPPALBE AND HIS GROUP IN AFRICA:

Ron sat in his weather machine just outside the African village stunned. As soon as they landed the Hive Mind reestablished communication with the Bebes on the African continent and a few moments later, piggybacking her signal on international communication waves, with the Bebes back in the United States. A few seconds later the Hive Mind was briefed on what had occurred back in the States and of course promptly passed the news to the Leader and his ladies, almost as she was getting the information herself.

An equally stunned but also angered Shego and Bonnie were standing next to Ron. Ivy and Harley were as equally surprised by the news but they were more apprehensive by the goings on than Bonnie and Shego were.

"So let me get this straight." Shego began. "Drakken brought the Joker to our home? To kill us and Kim Possible and her mother, not to forget Batman were there?"

"No Shego." The Hive Mind replied. "Drakken did bring the Joker to the home but he was under duress to do so and reports state that he gave deactivated weapons to the Joker leading him to believe that they would be affective against the Bebes that were there. Kim Possible, her mother, Batman and Monique arrived slightly later."

"So Dr. D. lead Mr. J. on, hoping the Bebes would destroy him so he wouldn't have to?" Harley asked. "I wouldn't think blueberry had it in him." She added almost impressed by the would be Doctor.

"Oh Drakken is a genius when it comes to saving his own ass." Shego agreed. "But I'm more interested right now in the fact that the Bebes allowed Kim Possible into our home. Did Princess go through our things?"

"No Shego. The Bebe that had assigned herself in charge made sure that the Possibles, Monique and Batman were kept only to the living room area. Dr. Drakken asked and was permitted access to the kitchen area." The Hive Mind stated.

This mollified Shego slightly. "So they are still there?"

"Negative Shego. The Possibles, Monique and Batman have left the home, only Drakken remains awaiting the Leader's decision on what to do with him."

"So they left in the car they had arrived in? Or did you let them take the car that Ron used when he returned to us?" Ivy asked.

"Negative Ivy. The Leader's car was taken by the Joker when he escaped. All other vehicles present at the location were destroyed when Global Justice attacked. The Possibles, Monique and Batman left in Dr. Director's car."

Ron blinked several times in silence before replying. "Um, I think you better give us a full report Hive Mind. Why wasn't the Joker destroyed as I ordered and when did Global Justice arrive, let alone Dr. Director herself?"

So the Hive Mind did just that, giving a detailed report of all that had gone on. Her voice broke a little when she reported how the Bebes back home had started developing their own ideas and reasoning procedures and even had argued among themselves on what was to be done with Drakken and Kim Possible.

The Hive Mind didn't understand the sense of loss she was feeling but after a millisecond she filed it away to examine later.

The Hive Mind also for reasons she couldn't even explain decided to avoid mentioning that some of the Bebes had suggested and even plotted of ways of getting rid of Kim Possible so her mother would have to stay with the Leader and his new family.

After the Hive Mind finished its report, there was dead silence in the cabin of the weather machine as Ron, Shego, Ivy, Harley and Dr. Mozenberg digested what they had been told.

Finally a torrent of questions came from all, each showing where their main concerns lay.

"So Global Justice now knows where we live?" Asked a nervous Dr. Mozenberg. He had escaped Global Justice's clutches several times now and feared his luck would have to run out sooner or later. And now knowing that Global Justice knew where Stoppable had his base in the United States seemed to indicate to him that it would be sooner than later.

"Yes Dr. Mozenberg although the Bebes informed Dr. Director that any attempt to make use of that information would be dealt with most severely." Hive Mind informed him.

"I'm more worried that Mr. J. knows where we live in the U.S." Harley added. "Well Africa is kind of nice. I can get used to staying here I guess."

Shego snorted. "Well don't think I'm going to live here just to avoid that clown of yours."

The Hive Mind tried to reassure Harley. "The Bebes are hunting him as we speak. The Joker will never get a chance to put his knowledge to use."

"Why didn't you just kill that bastard when you had the chance?" Shego nearly growled at the Hive Mind.

The Hive Mind actually made a sighing noise. "As it was explained in the report, Global Justice was attacking the Leader's compound. It would have been easy for the Bebes present to destroy the Joker but it would have left the Possibles, Monique, Dr. Drakken and Batman at Global Justice's mercies while they did so. They made the decision that the Leader would not want a loss of innocent life for them to take the time to destroy the Joker."

Shego gave a careless shrug. "Wouldn't have bothered me any."

"Shego." Ron stated in a stern voice.

Shego frowned at Ron but then sighed. "All right, the Bebes back home made the right decision." She grumbled.

"You may have managed to threaten Global Justice into leaving our home alone with the information you had but it won't stop the Batman. He'll be back for me and Harley. Batman never gives up once he is on your trail." Ivy stated to the Hive Mind.

A still worried looking Harley nodded her head. "Like I said, Africa is nice this time of year."

"We are not staying here forever Harley." Shego snapped at her in annoyance.

"I can't believe Will Du was killed." Ron finally said voicing what was foremost in his mind. Oh, he was worried like the rest of them about the Joker and Global Justice and Kim but that was what struck him the most about the report. Will Du had turned out to be a killer? And was gun downed outside his home? Sure there was no love lost between the two of them and the guy had even tried to shoot him at one point but Ron had trouble wrapping his mind around the thought of a cold blooded killer Du as much as Dr. Director had.

"No Leader. The agent known as Will Du was not killed."

Harley blinked. "But you said he was shot and they carried his body away in a body bag? That sounds pretty dead to me."

"That he was shot and removed in a body bag is correct Harley but the Bebes at the location state that they even at a distance they could still detect a heartbeat coming from the body as it was packaged for removal. They also state that thermal scans of the bodies at the site showed his was still registering as living."

This returned the cabin to silence as everyone tried to decide what that must mean.

"So Dr. Director must have faked his death to try and cover up his crime?" Shego was the first to state her theory.

The Hive Mind was silent itself for a moment as it sorted through the jumble of different Bebe memories coming to her from the Bebes that had been present at the time.

It used to be so easy for her. All the Bebes thinking alike made it simple to act as the hub for sharing memories but now each of the Bebes were developing their own style and way of looking at the world. It was exhilarating but at the same time confusing to the Hive Mind.

"The consensus is that Dr. Director was not faking her surprise at the agent's 'death'. Her heartbeat went up and responses suggest she was as shocked and confused by the events as everyone else."

"Maybe this Du person has set up his own staged death to get out of punishment?" This came from Dr. Mozenberg. "I mean I would have something arranged if it was me."

"No Dr. Mozenberg. The Bebes at the home say his heartbeat went up in shock at the point he was shot to only drop to levels consistent with being drugged. They do not believe he was expecting the attack."

Bonnie looked to her master. "What do you think all of this means Master?"

Ron frowned at her still using Master to referring to him but decided to not correct her this time. "I think… This is Global Justice's problem and not ours at the moment." He glanced out one of the windows of the weather machine to see the village people rushing to greet the return of their savior and leader. "We have our own problems to deal with. And I'm sure of one thing. If Du is still alive, no matter where he is at the moment, our paths will cross again."

The others nodded and made ready to leave the weather machine.

"I want the Bebes back home to fumigate the place before we return. I don't want to even smell a trace of Kim Possible when we get back." Shego told the Hive Mind as they made to wheel her out.

"Shego." Ron said with a shake of his head before putting on a smile to greet the people outside.

"I just can't keep from wondering what happened to Mr. J. and that Du guy though." Harley mused as she climbed up into the bath tub with Ivy and Baby to let the Bebes wheel them out.


	35. Chapter 35

Partners in Crime

By Weirdbard

Chapter 35

Du woke with a start, he couldn't remember going to sleep and for a moment he couldn't even remember who he was or where he was but looking around he quickly recognized the location he was at, the Global Justice's chapel.

Global Justice hadn't lost many agents in its battles against the forces of darkness but it did happen and each time some one fell in the line of duty Du found himself in this very same chapel along side of Dr. Director in the front pew as benefited his status as the number one agent.

Staring forward Du noticed a shiny black coffin sitting in front of nondenominational altar awaiting the funeral ceremony but looking around Du noticed he was the only living person in the chapel.

"_I must have been keeping 'guard' over the fallen agent."_ Du thought to himself. Even though he couldn't remember who the fallen Global Justice agent was.

This filled Du with a great deal of concern and remorse. It was the honor guard's duty to stand vigil over the fallen agent's body for a full 24 hours and then be the first to eulogize the agent's life.

While this would explain why Du was alone in the chapel with the coffin it also meant that he had failed in his duty by falling asleep while on guard, not to mention he hadn't even begun to write his eulogy and couldn't even remember who it was for. This was a serious lapse in professionalism and Du was grateful that he was alone in the chapel and no one saw this lapse.

Rising from the pew, Du made his way to the coffin and after glancing around one last time to make sure he was still alone, he prepared to open the coffin and take a peek inside, just to remind himself whom it was he would be honoring.

As the coffin lid slowly began to rise Du felt a rush of dread fill him. Shaking his head to rid himself of what had to be just the perfectly normal jitters of being around a dead body, Du pulled the coffin lid up fully and gazed down at the body revealed.

Lying inside the coffin on a bed of roses was the body of Megan Orla. She was dressed in a white gown that should have made her look angelic but the effect was ruined by the large bloody hole in the center of her chest that had stained the bodice a scarlet hue that almost matched her hair. Du with the blood in his veins turning to ice could see down into the hole in her chest and could plainly see there was no heart in the cavity.

Suddenly Megan's eyes shot open and she turned her head to stare back up at Du.

"You crushed my dreams and killed me. You truly have no heart so... Take mine!" Megan spoke and with her mangled and bloody heart in her right hand she thrust it up towards his face.

With a cry of pure terror Du slammed the lid shut on the coffin and panted in horror for a moment before turning to face the pews of the chapel, only to find them empty no more but filled with his fellow Global Justice agents. In the front pew sat Dr. Director and by her side, in Du's rightful place was Kim Possible.

"Don't keep us in suspense Du." Kim Possible said. "Tell us of the life of the poor woman whose only crime was in loving a worm like you."

Du's face contorted in rage. "She never loved me!" Du screeched at Kim. "She just used me like you and Dr. Director always do!"

Clawing at his pocket Du tried to find the gun he carried to end Kim and Director's lives but before he could find it, the coffin lid behind him flung open and the body of Megan sat up. Grabbing Du by the arms the corpse dragged Du into the coffin while the chapel exploded into applause.

"Time to wake up sleepy head." Megan's voice whispered into his ear as the coffin lid slammed shut plunging Du into darkness.

With a hysterical scream Du once again woke up but this time to complete darkness. In terror Du brought his hands up in front of him only to find himself encased in some kind of slick plastic like material.

Clawing and with his breath coming in pants of sheer horror Du finally found a zipper to his prison and with a savage tug managed to pull it down freeing himself, only to be blinded by a bright white light shinning down into his eyes.

Gasping and wildly blinking his eyes he finally managed to get his eyes to adjust to the change in lighting and found himself sitting on the floor of a pure white enclosed space. Vibrations in the floor and the peculiar sinking feeling one gets in an elevator calmed Du down enough to look around. On either side of him he could see two men dressed in identical white clothing. Du realized after a moment they were dressed in proper British mourning clothes complete down to white top hats on their heads.

Looking back down at himself Du found that he was sitting in a Global Justice's body bag and with a shiver he quickly stood up and shimmed out of the restricting thing.

"He screams like a right girl he does." The man on Du's right said with a slight British accent, looking past him to his counterpart.

"You can talk? At least he didn't soil himself like you did." The other man said with a slight Spanish accent.

"I didn't soil myself!" The first speaker said indignantly.

"No, you soiled everything else though." The second man replied with a smirk.

"Excuse me." Du said coldly. "What the hell is going on. Am I dead?"

"Dead he asks." The second figure in white asked his counterpart. "Do we look like angels to you buddy?" He said finally addressing Du.

"No. You look like common thugs someone has dressed in sanitary napkins." Du replied, some of his bravado coming back now that his fear was receding.

"Oh that's a good one." the first figure in white laughed. "I'll have to remember to tell the boss that one."

"Shut your cakehole Ajax." The second figure grunted.

"As my friend over there so eloquently stated my name is Ajax and Mr. Sanitary Napkin is named Comet." The first figure named Ajax told Du.

"Comet and Ajax." Du said suspiciously.

"Not our real names of course. But when you join the agency your real names are forever bleached out and you are given new ones." Ajax said with a nod.

"And what is this agency? Who is your boss? And why am I here? What happened with Dr. Director and Kim Possible back at Stoppable's hideout?" Du rapid fired questions.

"Not for us to say is it?" Comet replied sourly. "Save your bleeding questions for the boss."

The elevator stopped with a slight jolt and a bing noise. "We're here now anyway." Comet added.

As the white doors of the elevator slid open Du could see they led directly to a similarly stark white corridor that led to a simple white door with a bright brass doorknob. Comet grabbed Du by the arm to pull him along as Ajax lead the way.

Du thought about making a break for it but glancing back Du noticed the elevator had no controls but only multiple keyholes. So unless he wanted to fight off the two figures in white with him, manage to search their bodies to find the key they must have used and then hazard a guess on which keyhole lead to the outside world, he was stuck anyway so he allowed Comet to drag him along.

"A person could go snowblind in this place." Du muttered.

"I find it relaxing." Ajax replied as with a flourish he opened the door at the end of the corridor and gestured for Du to enter. An option that Du had taken away from him when Comet suddenly shoved him from behind causing to fall through the open doorway into the room beyond anyway.

The first thing to catch Du's attention was at least the room had a bit of color to it. In the center of the room a warm cherry wood desk sat with a potted fern plant next to it. On top of the desk was a silver picture frame housing a photo that Du couldn't quite see from his spot on the floor. Rising to his feet Du looked to the person sitting behind the desk and blinked a few times.

The man was of indeterminate age. He had a shiny bald head and stark white eyebrows but his face seemed oddly youthful. From what Du could see, he was dressed all in white like the ones that brought him in but in his case it was simple white pants and a very tight muscle shirt that showed the man worked out. Arms like coiled pythons rested on the desk and he had a chest that looked like he could bench press a truck without breaking too much of a sweat.

A single gold earring dangled from his left ear.

"Well well, look what the kitty cats have done dug up from the kitty litter box and dragged to my office." The man finally said with a heavy American southern drawl.

"Do you know who I am?" Du growled as he tried to straighten his clothes and looked down in annoyance at the red spots on his shirt where he had been hit at Stoppable's place. Du had already figured out they must have used sleeping darts on him along with some cheap paintball tricks to make it appear as if he had died.

"Well Kitty Turd, if I'm not mistaken..." The man drawled as he pulled a folder over to him and opened it. "You are the 'late' William Du. Late to the world above and mostly definitely late to Global Justice."

"I am Global Justice's number one agent and..."

"You are a turd boy! You don't get to keep the number one designation when you try to kill the head of your organization! Or did they fail to cover that in your fancy training. Not to mention cold blooded murder of a woman." The bald headed man said as he calmly looked at Du as if he was a stain on his pristine floor of his office.

"She was a security risk to Global Justice and I simply removed that threat." Du nearly barked at the man but then faltered a bit when the man frowned at him and decided to try a new tactic. "And who are you? If I may ask."

"Oh you may ask boy. Around these parts I'm known as Mr. Clean."

Du blinked. "You have got to be kidding me." He finally said.

The bald man rose up from behind his desk and Du resisted the urge to gulp in fear. The man towered a good foot taller than Du or for that matter the other men in the office with them. Mr. Clean leaned over the desk in Du's direction. "Do I look like some clown sent to amuse you Turd boy?"

"No... Sir." Du finally said.

"Well good. Then maybe we can move on to your new position with my little organization."

"And what if I decide to refuse your offer?" Du asked.

"Well then. You already have your body bag waiting. We can give you a nice burial at sea. We have a garbage scow headed out later this evening don't we boys?"

"Yes sir." Both men standing at rigid attention shouted at the same time.

"Why me?" Du asked. "And what is this organization you are talking about?"

"To answer your second question first." Mr. Clean drawled. "We are known as the 'Cleaners' our job is to fix and clean up the messes left by other organizations."

"Ridiculous." Du replied. "I was the top agent of Global Justice and I've never heard of you!"

To his surprise Mr. Clean laughed at him. "And you think Global Justice is the only secret organization out there? Ever heard of Majestic Twelve? Sword of Vengeance? Shadow Men?" Mr. Clean waited a moment for Du to reluctantly shake his head. "And you know why you have never heard of the others Turd boy? Because we exist to clean their litter boxes when they refuse to." Mr. Clean sat back down at his desk. "Hell, I'm not so vain as to think my organization is even at the top. There probably is another dozen or so above me waiting to clean us up if we fail."

Du blinked. He truly thought Global Justice was the only secret agency and never considered that there might be others and here he was being told that not only were there others he had never heard of but an organization whose purpose seemed to be to clean up after them. "So... Back to my first question. What do you want with me?"

Mr. Clean nodded as if he approved of Du for the first time since he laid eyes upon him. "You cleaned up after yourself boy. Course you created the problem in the first place but at least you stood up and did the unpleasant job of sweeping up your own droppings."

Du looked confused for a moment and then a haunted look came to his eyes. "Megan." He said simply.

"That's right boy. Her. Oh you are right she would have made a right mess if she had been allowed to go on the idiot box and broadcast Global Justice's existence. The American people and indeed the world is allowed to live in comfort only because they don't really know what their governments are up to. They learn that secret military and police organizations exist and running around willy nilly and not simply urban legends and they would spend far too much time worrying their pretty little heads over what is being done and start asking awkward questions like who watches the watchers, etc. None of us need that."

Mr Clean leaned back in his chair and stared up at the ceiling of his white office for a moment. "It's simply a point of fact lad. That unless everyone is willing to take responsibility for their actions then someone else has to step up to do it. Our little family of secret organizations serve that purpose."

"So you and your members are killers." Du stated coldly.

Mr. Clean met his eyes with a steady stare. "You got it boy. Just like you are."

Du sighed but he could not argue with him. And there might be advantages to his new employer. "Will I be allowed to go after Kim Possible and Dr. Director?"

Mr Clean rose from his chair once again to tower over Du. "This organization isn't for personal vendettas Turd Boy! The little lady over at Global Justice is doing her job. Sure she has made some mistakes, recently quite a few but so far she hasn't reached a level that requires tidying up yet. And as for Kim Possible? That filly has her heart in the right place even if her attic is a bit untidy."

Du took a moment to try and translate his new eccentric boss's words. "You mean Kim Possible has mental problems?"

"Don't we all?" Mr. Clean looking at Du and then the other two men present in the room with them. "The point Turd Boy is, we don't going around killing just anyone like some Nancy boys from England might do. The ones we 'clean' up are those that are staining the world with either their plans or their mistakes and only those people."

The agent with the British accent named Ajax frowned but other than that showed no reaction to Mr. Clean's mention of Nancy boys from England comment.

Du let a small smile grace his face when he heard the organization was allowed to 'clean up' people staining the world with their plans. "Stoppable." He breathed out. He was startled when Mr Clean slammed his fist down on the desk causing the picture frame sitting on it to jump and fall over. "Listen and listen well Turd Boy! Ronald Stoppable is definitely off limits. You are not to 'clean' him up or even to soil his shadow with your presence. Are we crystal on this?"

Du once again intimidated quickly nodded his head but then frowned. "May I ask why?"

Mr. Clean once again sat down at his desk and reaching over he picked up the fallen photo and looked at it for a moment before looking back at Du. "Two reason. The first one is that boy is cleaning up the world's mistakes at the moment."

Du blinked and then said. "You respect him?"

Mr. Clean frowned. "Remember my comments earlier about people taking responsibility? Well that lad is taking responsibility for the entire human race." Clean gave a slight sad shake of his head causing his earring to swing a moment. "I can't help but think that in the end he'll fail but I for one am going to give him every chance to succeed first."

Du gave a casual half shrug as if he still considered Stoppable a bungler that was of no consequences. "You said two reasons. What is the second if I may ask?"

Clean glanced at the photo in his hands and then turned it to show it to Du. Du could see that there was a little blond hair girl around six with her hair in pigtails being cradled in the arms of the man before him.

"My granddaughter. She takes after her gramps in that she has no fear whatsoever. Recently her and her brother tried to climb a tree in her mom's backyard. Did darn good for her age too. Got all the way to the top and that old tree is tall. When she got to the top she lost her grip and fell towards the ground. Just as her little body should have hit every limb on the way down and gone splat on the green grass below she was caught in mid air by, as she calls it, a shiny metal angel woman. The metal gal carried her to the ground and then told her that if she was going to climb trees she should make sure she had the proper gear to do so and make sure an adult was present to help her if necessary." Mr. Clean turned the photo back towards himself and smiled at it. "My granddaughter was highly pleased that the metal woman didn't berate her for climbing like her mom did but only suggested she do it more safely in the future. The metal woman then zipped up the tree and rescued her brother who, after seeing his sister fall had closed his eyes and froze up in the tree and like a little kitty cat couldn't make himself move either up or down."

"A Bebe robot." Du said softly.

"Exactly. And as we all know now, they sure as heck ain't following that Dr. Drakken character but are following the orders of Stoppable. My granddaughter and my grandson are alive today because of those metal women and by extension Stoppable. Them and at last count nearly a thousand other children, little old women and other people who got careless and sloppy. Until and unless Stoppable starts making a mess, he's off limits as far as I'm concerned."

"What if Global Justice or any of those other secret organizations try to stop him?" Du asked.

Mr. Clean glanced at the photo one last time before sitting it back on his desk. "Well then Turd Boy... They might have to be 'sanitized' but we'll wipe up those stains when or if they appear." Clean then looked at Ajax. "Take our new recruit down to training and get him issued with the proper gear."

Ajax nodded. "And his operative name? Are we going to keep calling him Turd Boy?" The last said with a grin.

Clean fixed Du with a steady stare before slowly shaking his head. "Tempting but it don't exactly fit The Cleaners theme." Pulling out a flat drawer from his desk Clean stared at it for a moment. Du from his position on the other side of the desk could see there was a piece of paper affixed to the drawer but he couldn't read what was on it. He would have been singularly disappointed if he could have, to find out that it was just a list of cleaner product names. Some of them crossed out as they had been used and others awaiting being assigned.

Clean looked up and studied Du for a moment. "Our new agent will be known as... Agent Pledge. Fitting as he isn't ready yet for any major deep cleaning assignments and only good for light 'dustings'."

Du frowned but was smart enough to not comment on his new code name.

Ajax reached into a inner pocket of his white jacket and pulled out a familiar large handgun. Du immediately reached for it but was denied when the gun was instead tossed to Mr. Clean.

"We don't use these things Pledge, they make too much noise and way too much mess. You'll be issued a clean gun after you have been trained how to use it."

"Clean gun?" Du asked looking over at Ajax.

"A sonic weapon. It disrupts the target's atomic structure causing the target to just... Melt away." Ajax told him.

"Kind of horrifying to see the weapon's effect in person for the first time but it leaves nothing behind." Mr. Clean added. "Not even an unpleasant odor is left. Completely clean."

As Comet and Ajax escorted their new fellow agent Pledge out, leaving behind the stain and name of Will Du forever more, Mr. Clean glanced at the photo of his granddaughter once more. "New world coming darling. A clean world and safe world for you and your brother." Mr. Clean then reached into his desk and pulled out a folder marked Ronald Stoppable. Opening it he stared at the photo of Ron that was on top of the file. "If'n you do your part Stoppable."

Meanwhile at Global Justice.

Dr. Director sat at her desk and stared down at a folder of her own. This one was also labeled with the heading William Du and was a mirror copy of the one Mr. Clean had. She slowly looked at photos of when Du, a young idealistic man, almost just a boy really, joined her organization. Angrily she rubbed the patch over her missing eye. It was more to distract herself from the tears developing in her good eye than it was hurting once again. Sure in the end Du turned out to be an unstable individual who had murdered a young woman to cover up his own indiscretions but it hadn't always been that way. He had once been a young idealistic man who wanted to save the world from its own folly. Somewhere along the way he had just lost his way. If only she had seen the signs! Maybe when he started carrying that new handgun she should have insisted he go to the organization's psych section for evaluation? But in the end she had failed him to such a point he had been about to kill her when he was taken out himself.

Dr. Director looked to the goldfish bowl sitting on her desk. "Why do I feel like I'm missing something Elsa?" She asked the fish inside the bowl. If Dr. Director had thought upon it, she might have decided she was the one that needed to see the psych department when she started asking advice from a fish but damn if she didn't feel at times like the fish was the most intelligent thing in her organization lately.

The gold fish swam lazy turns in its bowl before stopping dead still as if staring at the folder on Director's desk as well.

Dr. Director turned her attention back to it as well. "We were the only family Du had. I failed him Elsa. I should have seen something, anything but I failed." Dr. Director let out a long slow breath but at least there is one thing I can still do for Du. I can make sure he gets a decent funeral."

Picking up the phone Dr. Director pressed a few buttons and then waited. When the person on the other end picked up she began to speak. "Retrieval? This is Dr. Director and I'm calling about the body of one agent Will Du. I want the body processed and prepared for funeral. We'll be having the memorial ceremony in two days."

Dr. Director blinked as the person on the other end responded. "What do you mean there is no body in Retrieval? I was there when our agents processed him and put him in the body bag. Surely they have returned by now?"

Dr. Director listened to the phone for a few moments before slamming it down. She looked back at the fish and asked. "Where is Du's body?"

The gold fish named Elsa stared back for a moment and then as if dismissing her began to swim slowly once again.

Otunga Village, Africa.

Shego stood on top of the only two story building in the village, the recently Bebe built Town Hall and watched Ron as he stared towards the North. It was before dawn and she studied Ron's profile by the starlight shining down.

Something was bothering Ron, something more than just Drakken's reappearance at their Vegas home or the still missing Joker and she was determined to figure out what it was. He was dangerously close to slipping into the same brooding stage he had been when he left their group last time and as far as Shego was concerned that was not happening again no matter what!

Shego went over their recent arrival in the village in her mind looking for clues. Ron had seemed thoughtful but not depressed or moody when the joyous and grateful village folk had rushed out to meet them but somewhere along the walk to the center of the village Ron had gone quiet and seemed to get moodier as they continued.

The rest of that day Ron had been quiet and withdrawn and when they had retired to a house that night that had been set aside for them to stay at. Mozenberg having been given his own place nearby.

Ron had showed no interest in 'fun time' with Shego or the rest of the girls that night and had stayed up till the ladies had fallen asleep. This morning Shego had found the bed Ronless and slipped out in search of him and found him on top of the Town Hall.

Shego glanced to her side where her guardian Bebe waited silently. Shego normally didn't have much interaction with her Bebe, unless you count that time she had used her's as a target to work out her frustrations when Ron had left them but since the other women weren't there she spoke to it. "Is he worried about the Tazoians escalating the battles?"

"There is 23 percent chance that is what is occupying the Leader Ron's mind at this time." The Bebe replied.

"Meaning its possible but you don't think that is what is worrying him at the moment." Shego replied.

She was silent as dawn broke and sunlight filled the valley the village was a part of. If she knew Ivy half as well as she thought she did, she imagined the redhead must be in the fields with her precious plants greeting the sun right now as it made its appearance.

Shego imagined that Harley was probably still in bed asleep as she was definitely not a morning type of person and if past indications were anything to go on, Harley in her sleep probably had her arms firmly cocooned around Bonnie. Somehow Bonnie had ended up as Harley's living teddy bear when either Ivy or Ron was not available.

In silence Shego watched Ron for another thirty minutes before deciding enough was enough and as just opening her mouth to demand he tell her what was wrong when she heard children laughing from below.

Since the Bebes had opened a school for the young children of the village, the children got up at dawn every morning and walked to the school building which was right next door to the Town Hall. Walking over to the side Shego glanced down to watch the children and saw several of them were playing jump rope using a vine from the mutant plant guardian Baby.

Ivy had surprised Shego on their first day back by insisting that the mutant plant be transplanted for the duration of their stay next to the school. Shego thought Ivy would have either had the plant situated near the gardens or near the entrance to the house they were staying at, but Ivy had insisted the perfect place was next to the school.

When Shego had questioned her about it she pointed out that the gardens didn't need the protection and if they had planted Baby next to their house she would have been molesting Ron every time he tried to come and go so the school was the best place to put her. There Baby could keep an eye on the kids but they all could still easily visit her everyday.

Shego had briefly feared when the Bebes wheeled the huge plant into town that the children or elderly town's people would be fearful of the plant but she needn't have worried. Being farmers all their lives the villagers welcomed the odd plant and the children quickly fell in love with it.

And watching the children using one of her vines as a jump rope Shego could tell Baby was enjoying the experience as well. The giant tulip like head of the plant was nodding in time with the kids singing a jumping rope rhyme in their native language.

As Shego watched, Ivy came walking up to Baby from the direction of the village's garden area and after watching the children for a moment at play she then glanced up to where Shego was leaning over the edge. Ivy whispered something to Baby and Shego wasn't a bit surprised when a second vine suddenly sprouted from the plant's main stem and wrapping around Ivy's waist carried her up to deposit the woman next to Shego a few moments later.

Ivy looked around and took in Ron standing on the North edge of the roof. He didn't acknowledge Ivy's arrival but both she and Shego knew he was aware that she was there. "Ronnie is brooding again isn't he?" Ivy asked Shego in a whisper.

"I'm not brooding." Ron's voice called back without him turning.

Shego started to contradict him when she heard Harley and Bonnie's voice talking from below. Shego frowned at Ivy and both of them glanced over the edge.

"And how do you know Master is here?" Bonnie asked Harley.

"When you are a criminal as long as I have, you get instincts." Harley stated.

"You asked your Bebe when I wasn't looking didn't you." Bonnie stated, in no way fooled.

Harley breathed out. "Yeah."

"So where is he then?"

Harley didn't reply but taking a running jump she leapt to the wall of the school building next door to the Town Hall and bouncing off of it she then kicked off the Town Hall building and in a criss cross fashion began to scale the buildings to reach the Town Hall roof. When she reached the top of the single story school house building she leaped to the wall of the Town Hall and began inching up the wall.

For a moment it looked like Bonnie was going to attempt the same thing but then she paused and turning she spoke to her personal Bebe that followed her everywhere. The Bebe turned allowing Bonnie to climb up on her back and cling there and then with a 'zinnnng' noise the Bebe moved at hyper speed and just ran up the side of the building carrying Bonnie along on her back. As the Bebe zipped past Harley, Harley paused almost long enough to slide down the building before beginning once again to scale her way up the building. "That's cheating!" She managed to yell after Bonnie in between gasps of breath.

"Clever." Ivy complimented Bonnie as the Bebe came to a sudden stop beside her and Shego.

"Its so easy to forget they are there sometimes what with how silent they tend to be." Bonnie said as she climbed down from the Bebe's back. Bonnie started to walk over to Shego and Ivy's side but remembering herself she turned back to her Bebe. "Thank you for helping me to get up here." She said in a polite manner that would have shocked Kim if she had seen it.

Ivy turned to look at Shego. "How did you get up here by the way?

"I 'unlocked' the Town Hall doors and used the inside stairs of course."

"And Ron?"

"Ron climbed the building on his own." The Bebe that had basically assigned itself permanently to Ron answered.

Ivy started to comment on her statement when Harley with a final wheeze pulled herself over the edge of the building and just lay there on the roof a few feet from them.

Ivy strolled over and looked down at her lover. "You are getting soft. Normally you would have bounced your way up a building twice this tall in Gotham in half the time."

"Yeah...missed you... too." Harley wheezed. A second later with a zing noise her personal Bebe appeared standing beside the down Harley. "You could have... reminded me that you could... do that before... I did all this work" Harley scolded the Bebe.

"You did not ask."

Harley shot her Bebe a nasty look but didn't respond. Finally catching her breath she stood up and brushing herself off she turned to look at where Ron was still staring to the North. "So anyone find out why our guy is moping yet?"

"I am not moping or brooding." Ron said.

"Oh please. You are getting so good at brooding Batman is going to start taking lessons from you."

"Are you worried that the Taozians are going to start using planes to attack?" Ivy asked him.

Ron finally turned to look at them. "No, well yes. But that is not what has me concerned the most at the moment."

"Is it Mr. J?" Harley asked in a semi hushed tone that she normally took when speaking of the killer clown.

"Well, yeah. He's always on my mind but still that's not the big problem at the moment." Ron said.

"Then what is it?!" Shego growled.

"Did you hear what the Otungas said yesterday when they followed us through town?"

"Yeah. They praised you and said you were their savior. So?" Harley said confused. She though it was something major the way Ron had been acting and it was just because he was embarrassed by all the attention?

"There is a 98 percent chance that what the Leader Ron is referring to are the comments that some of the women were making that once Ron conquered their enemy Tazo for them, he would then drag the enemy's children out into the street and mutilate them in front of their parents." Ron's Bebe stated.

"WHAT?!" Harley yelled. "I didn't hear them say that."

"They were whispering it after we passed thinking I couldn't hear them." Ron stated sadly.

"You wouldn't do that."

"Of course the Leader would not do that!" Ron's Bebe raised its own voice. "The Leader values human life and would never harm a child!"

Shego, with her eyebrow rising turned to look at the Bebe. "We know that. Harley was just shocked that the Otunga didn't." Turning to look back at Ron, Shego added. "But you have to understand Ron, these people watched their children slowly starve, they saw their kids blow up by mines. They watched as they were mutilated in front of them. Sure Mozenberg patched them up using his Mantis but what of the kids who were killed before we showed up on the scene? You got to expect there are a lot of hard emotions from parents and naturally they talk about vengeance."

"But I'm not trying to stop this war just to put someone else in power to continue the abuse but with different victims!" Ron nearly cried. "And its not just that either but it did get me to thinking. You notice how there are elderly men and women in the village and lots of young kids but no young people? No teenagers to young adults I mean?"

Harley looked thoughtful. "Yeah I hadn't thought much about it but now that you mention it..."

"The young people were conscripted to be used as a work force. Probably in those diamond or gold mines we've heard so much about." Ivy stated as if it was obvious.

Ron nodded his head. "And this got me to thinking... How can I lead these people in a war? The elderly can't do it and I'm sure not going to arm children."

"Bebes can subdue the Tazoian military." Ron's Bebe stated.

Ron nodded his head. "I know they could. Probably within an hour if we call enough of you gals in but that's not good either."

"Um, why not?" Harley asked.

"Because I don't want the Otunga to become dependent on the Bebes either. I want them to be able to defend themselves." Ron sighed. "I may not be the best student of history that ever was but I learned enough to know that people value freedom when they fight for it themselves. Give it to them on a silver platter and in a matter of few years they'll take it for granted that the Bebes will always be there to protect them."

"We Bebes will be there to always protect them Leader." Ron's Bebe stated matter of factly.

Ron smiled briefly at her. "I know you will but I want to empower the people of this village, not cripple them in dependence on you gals." Ron glanced back to the North. "And then there is the question of, even if I were to send the Bebes to win this war, who do I have them attack? The soldiers of the Tazoian government? Most of them probably just joined the military for a job and they have no idea what their government has done to this people. And no matter how careful the Bebes are, there are bound to be injuries, deaths and destruction."

"Well Ron, that is what war is." Ivy stated.

"But its not fair to those who had nothing to do with the problems that cause a war."

Harley shrugged. "You can't have a 'clean' war Ron. It just not possible."

Ron sighed again. "Why can't I? Why should I disrupt people's lives, their government, if only a few were responsible for what has been going on?"

"The Leader Ron needs information?" His Bebe asked. "Information on who issued the orders to mine and isolate this village. Information on who knows what is going on and who doesn't in the Tasoian government."

Ron thought for a moment and then nodded his head. "Exactly. If we could find out who did this and find proof and get it to the Taosian people, they would probably turn on those individuals and clean up their own government."

Harley looked doubtful. "I think you are giving too much credit to the Tazoian people Ronnie. They probably don't care what their government has been doing as long as they enjoy a good life themselves."

"Maybe. But maybe we should give them a chance to prove they are better than that."

"Bebes will infiltrate the government buildings in Tazo capital and get this information for you Leader Ron." Ron's Bebe with her eyes flashing stated.

Shego snorted. "Look, you robots are good. I'll give you that but there is no way you can sneak into government buildings."

Ron's Bebe looked at Shego for a moment and then with a blur was gone.

Shego sighed and rolled her eyes. "Sure you can move at speeds humans can't see but you can't keep buzzing around the Tazoians. How will you learn anything that way?"

"I am no longer in motion." The Bebe's voice called out from seemingly everywhere around them.

The top of the City Hall building was fairly flat with very few places of concealment but Shego looking around could not spot the missing Bebe. She carefully examined the Bebes that were still visible with them but she was certain that Ron's wasn't simply pretending to be one of them. First off Shego was nearly certain that the other Bebes hadn't moved and secondly the Bebes would not resort to such simple trickery. Again, she was nearly certain of that.

Shego noticed that Ron seemed to looking at a slight patch of shadows that was still remaining.

"Where did you Bebes learn that technique?" He asked the shadow.

Shego spotted the glow of the Bebe's eyes in the midst of the shadow. "From the Bebe following the ninja Yori and her two companions." The robot's voice said from the shadows.

Harley finally spotted the concealed Bebe. "Hey! That reminds me. How is ninja girl? She still on a wild goose chase looking for Ronnie?"

Her personal Bebe answered the question. "The ninja woman and her companions traveled all the way to the Pacific coast and searched for signs of Ron, when they found nothing they realized they had been mislead and are now heading back to our Las Vegas home. They should reach it by noon tomorrow."

"They are going to be pissed when they find we've left." Harley said with a smirk. "Oh hey, how is Drakky doing?"

"We are getting off topic." Ron said before the Bebe could reply. Looking to the hidden Bebe he nodded. "Okay, send some of your sisters to the Tazoian government and see what they can learn. When we know who is really responsible for what's been going on, we'll make plans to end this." Ron then looked at Harley's Bebe. When talking to one Bebe you really were talking to all of them but he still found it easier to address them individually. "Next thing we need to figure out is what to do if the military decides to use planes against us. We have no defense against that."

"We can have the Bebes bring in anti-aircraft guns." Bonnie said.

Ron frowned. "That would only end up killing the pilots of those planes who are only following orders and lies someone in the government is spreading."

"Ron. You can't save everyone." Ivy said with a bit of exasperation.

Ron looked into her eyes. "I can try." He started towards the edge of the building to climb down. "I have some ideas that I want to discuss with the Hive Mind." He explained to his ladies.

"You could address her through one of us." Harley's Bebe reminded him.

"I prefer to talk directly to her."

"Yeah, Mother Brain probably gets lonely in that underground place you gals placed her." Harley said.

Ivy rolled her eyes. "Still with the Mother Brain name?"

"And the Hive Mind cannot become lonely." Harley's Bebe added.

"Oh really?" Harley said placing her hands on her hips and she turned to address her Bebe. "So it wouldn't bother you a bit if I were to order you to stand alone in a underground hole? After all you could still talk to your sisters through that network thingy of yours."

"I am a Bebe. I do not become emotionally upset or bothered." Her Bebe stated.

"Well in that case..." Harley began.

"I would not like for you to order me into a hole." The Bebe said without missing a beat.

"I thought you Bebes don't get emotionally upset?"

The Bebe stared back at her for a moment but then repeated. "I would not like for you to order me into a hole."

Harley patted her on her metal arm. "Don't worry I won't. I've gotten where I really like you being around. But remember your worry that I would. You should visit your Mother Brain more often."

Ivy once again rolled her eyes but didn't comment.

As Ron started to lean over the edge of the building to climb down, Harley's Bebe once again spoke. "Leader? May I accompany you to the Hive Mind... I would like to... visit with her."

Ron smiled. "Of course."

Almost as if they were engaging in a friendly race, Ron and Harley's Bebe leaped over the edge of the building. Bonnie let out a gasp of fear and raced to the edge and looked over. Ron using his Mystical Monkey Powers allowed himself to fall until he reached just below the top of the school house and then twisting in midair he kicked off the side of the building and began bouncing back and forth between the two buildings slowly his fall until he landed on his feet as light as a cat. Harley's Bebe didn't resort to anything to slow her fall and just landed on her feet on the ground sinking a few inches into the soft soil before wrenching her feet free. The two then started to walk off towards the underground location where the Hive Mind was stationed. Ron having to pause for a moment as the mutant plant Baby grabbed him up as he passed by her and cuddled him for a moment before allowing him to continue.

Bonnie on top of the Town Hall building breathed a sigh of relief and leaned against the low edge of the top wall. "Sometimes Master scares me witless the way he does things like that."

Harley grinned. "Take more than a simple drop to keep our boy down. Maybe chains or leather restraints." She added thoughtfully as if making a list.

Shego started to reply when her Bebe suddenly moved between her and Harley and stared at Harley.

Harley's smile faded and she started looking a little nervous. "What? I was just joking."

"This Bebe did not move based on your comments."

"Oh? What do you want then?" Harley asked still a little nervous. While it might seem silly since all Bebes looked, talked and acted in a similar fashion but Harley was more comfortable with her own Bebe and Shego's was kind of intimidating her.

"The Bebes require more information on the Joker. The search for him is proving more problematical than we first expected it to be. His continued freedom troubles the Leader Ron and we wish to bring his mind ease."

"The Joker is as slippery as rain soaked moss." Ivy agreed.

Harley started to get the haunted look in her eyes again. "What else can I tell you? I've told Mother Brain and the rest of you everything I can remember from my time with him."

"Exactly. Please tell us of the Joker before you joined him."

"How can she do that?" Bonnie asked confused.

"Harley Quinn was the Joker's therapist before she joined with him. So it follows that she would have been briefed on his crimes before she officially knew him." The Bebe replied surprising them all. They should have known the Bebes were always listening and would have known that from the conversations they had had in front of them.

Harley screwed up her face as she thought. "I can't think of anything that could be helpful to you gals."

"Has the Joker always used his own appearance and name?"

"Huh?"

"She means has the Joker ever used a disguise or an alias." Ivy explained to her.

Harley thought again for a moment. "Not really. Mr. J. has always been a kind of in your face type of person. He wouldn't hide who he..." Harley grew quiet for a moment. "Well there was that one time..."

"When?" Ivy asked surprised. Like Harley she just assumed the Joker always ran around as himself.

"Well... There was that time with the mayor and his kid. You remember Ivy? It was in the news. The Joker was on the run from the cops and Batman and decided to blow up the mayor at his house during his kid's birthday party so Mr. J. put on a clown costume and makeup and called himself Jocko the clown. Some rich guy knocked the bomb cake into the pool saving everyone and ruining Mr. J's joke but the Mayor's kid wanting to learn how to be a clown had hid in the Joker's van. Batman later saved the kid and caught Mr. J. and brought him back to Arkham."

Shego's Bebe's eyes flashed as she conversed with her sister Bebes and the Hive Mind. "Search of the internet reveals that there are listings for forty Jocko the clowns that perform children parties in various cities across the world."

"Not surprised. That's bound to be a common clown name." Shego said. "Finding the right one would be like looking for a needle in a..."

"However there is only one listing for a Jocko the clown that has been recently been added to the clown list."

"Clown list?" Bonnie asked.

"A listing on the internet for booking clown acts for children parties or special events. The list contains advertisements for every clown currently working in the world."

Shego blinked "Amazing the stuff they have on the internet these days."

"But even if there is a fairly recent listing for a Jocko doesn't mean its Mr. J."

"The listing went online a day ago."

"Okay, the timing is really suspicious but still..."

"And someone has already booked a performance by this clown."

"Well...Even then it might not be Mr. J."

"The performance is for tomorrow and to be for a elementary school of sixty children."

Harley's face drained of color. "Oh God. What if it is Mr. J. using one of his old schticks? All those kids."

"Bebes are being dispatched to the location of the party activity."

"Wait. You can't just storm into a kid's party. What if it isn't the Joker? You will scare all those kids for no reason." Shego argued.

"Bebes can be subtle when it calls for it." Her Bebe told her. "If it is a innocent performance the children will never know we were there but if it is the Joker..."

Shego glanced at the shadow where Ron's Bebe had been but the sunlight had moved and the shadow was now gone and with it also Ron's Bebe. Whether it had gone itself to gain the information on the Tazo government that her leader wanted or it had simply slipped off to follow Ron when he left, Shego had no idea but was still impressed it had left without any of them noticing. Maybe the Bebes could check out the clown performance without anyone being the wiser if it proved to not be the Joker.

"What will you do if it does turn out to be Mr. J?" Harley asked Shego's Bebe nervously.

"He will be terminated."

The Underground Bebe repair and assembly line in Otunga village.

Ron entered the hidden tunnel that led to the underground assembly line. It was basically carved out of the rock underneath the house the Otunga gave him and his ladies to stay at. The speed with which the Bebes moved at, the cavern had been excavated in a single night. Ron wasn't surprised when entering to find that the cavern was a mirror copy of the one in Las Vegas. Even down to where the Hive Mind was sitting flanked by two Bebes .

Bebes were amazing workers but they lacked imagination when it came to design. For them if it worked, why change it?

"Leader Ron." The Hive Mind greeted Ron as he entered. The single large eye was already up and pointed in his direction. "You have some design ideas for Bebes to handle aircraft?" It asked.

Ron grinned at the 'beach ball' on top of a pedestal. "You guessed."

"It was logical considering your conversations on top of the Town Hall with the Bebes."

Harley's Bebe which had followed Ron stepped to the pedestal and her eyes flashed for a brief moment. The Hive Mind's eye rotated to stare up at the Bebe for a moment and then without a word Harley's Bebe turned and walked out of the cavern.

Ron looked confused for a moment but then shrugged it off as the Hive Mind eye rotated to look at him again.

As the design monitor rose to its position beside the Hive Mind, Ron stepped forward. "I was thinking of something along these ideas."

Meanwhile back at the Stoppable ranch in the United States.

Bruce Wayne a.k.a. Batman stood next to Wade as they both studied a bank of computer monitors. It was very late at night and the rest of the household were asleep but these two continued to search for signs of the Joker or developments in the African situation with Ron. The Tazoian government was still pushing for U.N. Approval for bombing but so far the agency was slow to permit such actions. So things with Ron were semi stable at the moment.

Batman was more concerned with the Joker's whereabouts.

Wade used to long hours of hacking manged to smother his yawns and sipped at a glass at hand. He made a slight face as instead of soda he drank sweet tea but Slim Possible wasn't a fan of soft drinks.

He glanced up at the standing Bruce. "No permutations on the name Joker. No suspicious activities involving a Jo Ker, Joseph Kerr or J. O. Kerr. Any other ideas?"

Bruce rubbed the stubble on his chin for a moment. "He once used the alias Jocko the Clown."

Wade rubbed his eyes. "Okay. Let's see what that gives us..."

Later that day: A small town somewhere in Wyoming.

The Joker put the last touches on his Jocko the Clown makeup and checked his look in a mirror of someone's house.

Whose house? He had no idea. If he was really curious he could go back to the living room and check the smiling dead bodies sitting around a breakfast table for a wallet for identification but really the Joker couldn't care less.

After fleeing from the Bebes at Ron's home in Las Vegas the Joker had vowed to himself to lie low for a while. He did the usual stuff. Switch cars several times, don't go back to old haunts, avoid security cameras, police, etc. He even promised to himself that he wouldn't do any 'little gags' for a while.

He managed to keep his promise to himself for a whole 12 hours before the madness behind his eyes began to build up in pressure. The desire to mutilate someone for a laugh kept getting stronger and stronger and after breaking into someone's empty house and finding a laptop computer with a cellphone modem, he made his plans. A quick search of the internet found the Clown Listing and with a maniacal grin that would have frozen anyone's blood if they had seen it, the Joker had placed his listing. Taking the computer the Joker constantly kept checking the listing hoping for someone fool enough to take the bait and sure enough it was only a matter of time before someone booked the new Jocko clown for a performance.

The Joker had laughed and giggled for hours after finding out Jocko's first 'performance' in this dimension would be for a class of kids. It had been a while since the Joker had the pleasure of maiming children and this situation was perfect for his ultimate joke. The Joker knew as soon as he committed his 'joke' he would have to be on the move almost immediately to keep the Bebes and Ron's group from finding him but it would be worth the danger.

Adjusting the ridiculously large bow tie one last time, the Joker tipped the dirty top hat he had stolen along with the rest of his clown costume and winked at his reflection. Turning he left the bathroom and walked to the dinning room. Briefly searching the smiling dead corpse at the head of the table he found keys to the car outside.

"Thank you for the hospitality. We'll have to do this again sometime real soon." The Joker tilted his head at the corpse as if it had answered him. "No? Oh, our time together has left you and your family dead tired? Well I understand. I'm just glad I could bring a smile to you and yours." The Joker then giggling stepped over the body of a small dog lying on the floor next to the table, also with a frozen smile on it's furry face and laughed uproariously for a moment at the front door before quieting and slipping out.

The Joker peeked out from behind the curtain of the theater he had commandeered for his grand joke performance. He had to work fast but he managed to get all the preparations done in time. First the seats in front of the stage had been rigged with super glue. Once the parents and teachers who were the chaperones for the party were seated, they wouldn't be able to easily get up again.

Next sitting at the center of the stage was a large box brightly colored and made to look like a gift box. Next to the box was a rack of swords, knives and even a chainsaw.

The plan was simple enough. The Joker would do some brief clown tricks, maybe even a few balloons animals, then he would bring all the children on stage with him and one by one put them in the box. While laughing gas was slowly pumped into the seating section he would then plunge blade after blade into the box, before ushering the next child into the box.

Before the adults could even realize the reason none of the children were leaving the box was because the Joker was actually killing them on stage and this wasn't some innocent trick, they would be overcome by the gas and be helplessly in tears laughing at the deaths of their own children.

The Joker even had some of his constricting party streamers if any of the children got wise and tried to run for it. He would just drag them back to the box, toss them in and continue the joke until none were left.

The Joker hadn't decided at the end if he would gas the adults in the front with his special Joker Smilex formula and leave them dead with smiles or just let the laughing gas wear off and leave them to live with the horror of the event with them forever.

Which ever seemed the most humorous at the time he finally decided.

The Joker was almost shaking in anticipation as the children lined up on stage and he placed his hand on the shoulder of a chubby little boy and steered him to the front of the box.

"Okay Tommy birthday boy! Hop into the box and be prepared for a surprise!" Joker said in his Jocko voice. "Your friends will be following you shortly."

The little boy walked over to the box and lifted the lid and glanced inside. Puzzled he stepped back, letting the lid close again. "Um Mr. Clown? I'm not sure there is room in there. There is already a couple of people in there all ready."

The adults in the seats giggled thinking the child had spoiled the magic trick someway. Their giggling started to turn to laughter as the laughing gas started seeping into the seating area.

The Joker frowned as he wanted the laughing to be in time with the first child's death and the little brat before him was spoiling the gag. "Don't kid a kidder kid." The Joker said with a hint of a growl in his voice. "There is no one in that box. Hop in and make yourself comfortable."

The Joker pulled a sword from the rack next to the box and gestured for the boy to climb in.

"There's no room Mr. Clown." The boy insisted again.

"Look kid there is no one inside this box!" The Joker growled again as he marched over to the box and wrenched the lid up.

He had just long enough to look surprised as metal Bebe hands reached up from the box and grabbing on to his shoulders pulled him into the box and the lid shut again. The children milled around on the stage confused for a moment before with a zing noise two Bebes appeared on either side of the box and gestured to it in a 'Taa Daa' gesture.

Meanwhile Bebes appeared near the adults sitting in their seats. In their hands were spray cans of glue remover. They had already disabled the laughing gas dispensers and as the air cleared the adults stopped giggling and chuckling.

Bebe number 101 leaned over and addressed the principle of the school. "The clown on stage was a dangerous man who planned to harm your children."

As the man tried to rise from his seat and found he was stuck he started to panic.

"There is no need for worry. We..." The Bebe paused. Ron's order to not give their names while doing good deeds made her hesitate. "Have taken care of him and he will not harm your children. You are stuck to the seats due to glue. We will free you but try not to appear anxious or you might frighten the children. As soon as you are all freed please escort the children outside. We have provided some entertainment and refreshments for the children outside so they will be at ease."

"How do I know that you aren't going to harm the children?" The man asked but in a low voice.

"If we wished to harm the children what could you do at the moment to stop us? We are freeing you, not restraining you."

The man realizing the wisdom of not arguing with someone who is freeing you, at least till you are free, nodded his head and quietly passed on the information to the parent next to him and instructed them to remain calm and pass the information on as the Bebes moved among them spraying the adhesive remover.

Meanwhile on stage more Bebes appeared and began making elaborate balloon animals for the children. With access to the internet and reactions far superior to any human, the Bebes were enthralling the children with the speed and elaborate shapes and forms they were able to make.

As the last adult managed to peel themselves out of their chair, the Bebes on stage began to usher the children off the stage.

"But what of Mr. Clown?" Tommy asked.

The Bebe next to him looked down. "He had to depart. We have provided entertainment outside for you."

"Another clown?!"

"No. Ponies and ice cream."

"Yay!" The promise of ice cream and ponies already taking the child's mind off the clown.

Moments later after the last woman escorted her child out of the theater left the room and the door swung shut, a sound from the ceiling of the theater was heard. Seconds later Kim Possible slid down a cable and landed in a crouch on the stage. Batman landing beside her almost immediately.

They both looked around the theater and took in the multiple Bebes standing on stage that had turned to observe them as they entered.

"Where is the Joker?" Batman asked.

The Bebes turned to look at the box sitting on the stage.

Kim ran over to the box and threw open the lid and looked inside. Her face draining of blood, she backed away from it as the lid slowly closed once again.

Batman with quick strides made for the box as well but as he neared it a Bebe robot slowly rose from within it. In one of her hands, held by his garish green hair was the Joker's head. A almost comical look of surprise frozen on the killer clown's face for eternity.

The Bebe was covered with blood and the scene would have done any horror movie justice.

"You...You... You killed him. In cold blood you murdered a man." Kim muttered.

The Bebes as one looked at her. The metal women faces couldn't show expression but the sense of scorn in the air was almost palpable. "He was about to murder children in front of their own parents and teachers. We Bebes did what was necessary. What should have been done a long time ago."

In the deepest recesses of his mind, Batman found he couldn't disagree with them. The Joker was too dangerous an individual to continue living but the major part of him just couldn't accept that not even the Joker could have been saved in time. "You didn't have the right to do that."

"The right?!" The Bebe holding the Joker's head nearly shouted. "Life has the right to defend itself from death."

"You are not alive. You don't know right from wrong. Good from evil. Justice from mindless brutality. You are metal machines. You only know what Ron has told you to believe." Kim said trying hard to not throw up. She wished the Bebe holding the Joker's head would put it down or cover it or something. She could see a part of the Joker's spinal cord dangling from the head where it had been ripped off his body. "I can't believe Ron has sunk so low as to cold bloodly command a murder." She added sadly.

The Bebes stared at her for a moment and then as one they shook their heads as if they couldn't believe her stupidity.

"What of the children? Where are the children?" Kim suddenly asked looking around.

"Now you think of the innocents?" A Bebe near her on the stage asked.

Kim to her surprise found she couldn't meet the cold metal woman's stare and looked away.

"They are safe. They are outside with their parents and teachers. We Bebes have provided for them entertainment to take their minds off events in this room."

"Entertainment?" Batman asked suspiciously.

"Ponies, inflated structures for them to bounce in, cake and ice cream. Things the internet specify that most children parties include."

"Stolen no doubt from venders." Kim said.

"While the supplies were transported here by Bebe speed and efficiency. They were all paid for."

"With the money that Ron stole from a casino." Kim said almost spitefully.

The Bebe holding the Joker's head stepped forward and walked towards Kim. Kim found herself backing away as the gory thing neared her. "Your questionable moral objections mean nothing to us. We are confident in our actions and the leadership of Ron."

Behind the bloody Bebe other Bebe robots picked up the box and it was obvious they were taking it with them.

"What will you do with the Joker's body?" Batman asked.

"It will be taken back to Africa so we can prove to our Leader and Harley Quinn that the Joker is truly dead..."

"So Ron can have a trophy?"

"And then the body will be preserved until we Bebes can retrieve the Pan Dimensional Vortex Inducer, at which time the body will be sent back to your dimension so they too can know the Joker is no more." The Bebe continued ignoring Kim and addressing Batman.

"Why do you care that they know?" Kim asked curious in spite of herself.

"So the families that have lost loved ones to the Joker's madness will know that justice has been done."

The Bebes started the odd quivering motion that showed they were about to go to hyper speed.

"Wait." Kim called out. The Bebes stopped and turn to stare at her.

"How is Ron doing?" She asked with a note of longing in her voice.

"The Leader is worried about how to end the hostilities with the Tazoian government with a minimum of damage and death. We Bebes are confident that he will find a way. And he has the support of his ladies."

"His ladies." Kim sneered, her concern gone in an instant.

The Bebe started to reply but then turned to look at one of her sisters. Their eyes flashed for a moment and when it turned to look back at Kim it merely said. "This conversation has been had before with you. Conversing with you is inefficient and a waste of time." And without a further word all the Bebes briefly quivered and then were gone. Long drawn out zing noises and a side door to the theater swinging shut a moment later the only indication which direction they left by.

Kim looked around the now empty theater helplessly for a moment before letting her arms drop listlessly to her side. "Well, that could have gone better."

Batman didn't reply except by a slight tilt of his cowl acknowledging her comment.

"Shall we check on the children?" Kim asked.

"Why bother?" Batman replied. "I'm sure the Bebes are assuring their safety and happiness." He then hit the retract button on his grappling line and rose back to the ceiling of the theater. Kim stared up at him for a moment and then looked to the front doors of the theater before giving a shrug and hitting her own retract button on her grappling hook as well.

Later that day in Africa

The Bebe that had been the one to physically kill the Joker strode through the Otunga village to where she knew the Leader was waiting. It was late at night when they had arrived back on African soil but she knew from her link to the Bebe network that the leader was still awake. Her gleaming 'skin' was once again clean and sparkling, the spray from her run across the Atlantic Ocean having washed the Joker's blood from her form. She no longer carried the maniacal clown's head in her hand having replaced it back into the box that contained his body. The box was being carried behind her by her sisters that had been with her at the theater in the United States.

She came to a stop in front of the house that was the Leader's when in Africa and waited. She didn't bother to knock or make a noise knowing the Leader knew of her arrival by the Bebes inside with him. A serious faced Ron opened the door, the light of the house spilling onto her and the garish box slightly behind and to her side. He looked at the Bebe for a moment but did not speak and neither did she. Finally he stepped forward and lifted the flap on the box and stared into it.

Ron didn't pull away in horror or appear sicken by the sight but the muscles in his jaw did tighten and jump as he witnessed the end result of his orders to the Bebes.

Ron allowed the flap to close once again and looked back into the house. "Shego, Bonnie, Harley, Ivy please come out here for a moment."

Harley bounced out first and stared at the box. The Bebes were incapable of expression but she somehow got the feeling of solemness coming from them and her smiling dimmed. "What's going on Ronnie?" She asked.

Ron paused until the other women came out and then spoke. "The Bebes found the Joker."

All the women's eyes immediately zeroed in on the box behind the lead Bebe.

Harley started backing up. "I don't want to..."

"You have to." Ron replied emotionlessly.

Ivy shot him a sharp glance which Ron returned without flinching. Finally Ivy nodded. Harley had to know beyond a shadow of a doubt that the Joker was gone or she would never stop having nightmares or looking over her shoulder for the rest of her life. With her hands on Harley's shoulders she steered her towards the box. "You have to baby." She whispered to the smaller woman's ear. "You have to prove to yourself that he is gone."

As Ivy reached out to lift the flap Ron spoke again. "It is not pretty. The Bebes used their normal efficiency to insure that the Joker was truly taken care of."

Harley looked up to Ivy and swallowed and then nodded for her to continue. Ivy lifted the flap and they both looked into the box.

Inside the box the Joker's body soaked with his own blood lay curled into a fetal position, due more to the shifting of the box as the Bebes carried it high speed back to Africa than that is how he was killed. His head had rolled till it had, ironically ended cradled in his own right arm, looking almost like a scene from a Sleepy Hallow movie.

Harley let out a gasp and tried to jerk back but was supported by Ivy's arms.

"Oh Mr. J." She almost sobbed and a tear leaked from an eye.

Next to her Ivy stiffened but said nothing.

"I will understand if you do not wish to have anything more to do with me Harley, but it had to be done." Ron said.

Harley looked over at him in shock. "No Ronnie! I don't hate you or wish to be separated from you. I'm not crying so much for the Joker as for... I don't know. For what might have been? Its silly I know..."

Ron raised a hand to stop her. "I understand."

"Well I don't." Ivy stated. "He was a murdering raving sadist! I for one have no regret he's dead at all." She tightened her grasp around Harley's waist but noticed that Harley was staring back into the box again and more tears were leaking from her eyes. With a snort of disgust she stepped away from her and stomped back into the house.

"Red? Red! I'm not still in love with Mr. J! I just... just..." Harley cried as she turned and ran inside after her lover.

Shego marched over to the box and spared a glance inside. "So that's the Joker?" She asked having not personally met him before. She had heard Ron and Harley's description of him. "Nasty looking piece of work." She glanced up at the Bebe. "I meant him not your girls' work. Although with all I've heard he's done, you didn't make him suffer enough."

The Bebes didn't reply and with a shrug Shego turned and went inside the house.

Bonnie looked fearfully at her Master. "Do I have to look?" She had no idea what condition the Joker's body must be in but from Harley's reaction and the stiff muscles in her master's jaw she wasn't sure she wanted to.

Ron swallowed a few times to clear his throat and then replied. "No. You don't have to look. Just know that the Joker is truly dead and is no longer a threat to Harley, Ivy or ourselves. He's gone."

Bonnie feared she was appearing weaker than the other women but she just couldn't bring herself to face the dead body in the box. With one more reluctant questioning look at Ron she turned and went back inside the house.

Ron sighed and then looked at the Bebe that had presented the box to him. "We will prepare the body and preserve it. We have obtained from Dr. Drakken the location of the Pan Dimensional Vortex Inducer and have dispatched a Bebe to acquire it. As soon as we have the device we will open a portal to his world and send the body back." The Bebe stated.

Ron nodded his head and looked to the house's door. "I truly don't believe that Harley is still infatuated with the Joker but just in case keep the body somewhere she can't find it. I don't want her to obsess over it or have to see it again."

The Bebe nodded her head. "Understood Leader. There is also the possibility that Ivy will attempt to destroy the body for the same reasons you have stated. We shall store the body in a location unknown to your ladies until we can send it back."

Ron nodded and with a blur the Bebes with the box vanished. Only the zing noise and a slight odor of the Joker's dead body drifting in the breeze was left behind.

Ron walked to the house's doorway but then stopped and leaned on the outside wall of the house before allowing himself to sink down to sit on his knees.

Shego looked out a few seconds later and then frowned at his sitting form. "You aren't going to brood again are you? You did what he had to be done and the world owes you thanks for stopping that insane killer."

Ron didn't reply or look up at her.

Shego with a sigh walked out and slid down to sit beside him. "Don't do this Ron. Harley and Ivy need you now more than they ever have. Harley can't convince Ivy that she isn't in mourning for the Joker and Ivy is getting insecure, angry and jealous. Bonnie is nervous and worried..."

"And you?" Ron asked finally looking to her. "Does it not disgust you that I ordered a man's cold blooded murder?"

Shego gave a indifferent shrug. "From the stuff I heard, that clown was hardly a man. He was a true monster." She leaned over and placed a hand on Ron's face and caressed it. "But you are not Ron. Don't ever think that. Who else beside you and Harley will even spare a moment of regret over the Joker's death?"

"Batman will I suspect."

Shego snorted. "This Batman for all the good he has done still lacked the conviction to do what needed to be done. You didn't Ron." Shego let her hand drop from his face and after a moment she stood up. Looking down at Ron she said. "Its good to always question the things you do Ron but don't allow yourself to fall into the trap of being a martyr. You did what had to be done. Its over. Put it aside now and come inside. They need you." Shego walked to the doorway and paused. "We all need you Ron."

Ron continued to sit on the hard African ground for a moment before giving a nod and rising himself. Walking to the door he looked back to where the Bebes had been standing a while ago and sighing he turned and walking inside he closed the door behind.

Author's Notes:

Well its been nearly a year since the last update.

I am sorry for the length of time and the only excuse I can give is... 2012 was one Hell of a year for me. And while the world didn't come to an end by the 21st of December I had almost hoped it would.

So... The Joker is dead. Killed in the only way I could see the Joker dying. In one of his own jokes gone wrong. Some may argue that Harley would not feel any regret over his death, while others will argue that the Joker's death would destroy her. This is my take on it.

Ron still fights to keep from slipping into brooding and worry over his actions and Kim is still judging him from her own slightly skewered sense of morality.

Will Du now has a new name and job. Will it give him a chance at redemption or will he sink into his own brand of insanity? Only time will tell.

How will Batman's greatest nemesis's death affect him? Will he be able to get beyond his own sense of failure at the Joker's demise or will he turn it into an obsession to bring Ron to 'justice'?

I once again thank you my fans and followers of my story. I won't promise the updates will be any more regular than they have been before. If 2012 taught me nothing else, you can't predict what is going to happen. But I do promise I will try my hardest to continue this story in a more timely fashion.


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